VERN'S REVIEWS on the FILMS of CINEMA

TOXIC: A FAIRY TALE FOR GROWN-UPS is a new Kannada-language Indian film that I went and saw at the multiplex on opening day last week. I’d been waiting for it since they played the trailer before RZA’s ONE SPOON OF CHOCOLATE and I felt like I’d seen God. I think...

August 2, 1996

Roald Dahl was my favorite author when I was a little kid, but I didn’t know his book Matilda because it didn’t come out until ’88. Watching the movie version again the story seems kinda sweet and wholesome by his standards, even though it envisions the world as a place full of cruel, crude idiots. Its warmth lies in it...

It’s not that high of praise to say COYOTE VS. ACME is the best Looney Tunes movie. So how about the only Looney Tunes movie they should make?

I mean I think SPACE JAM is kind of funny, they’re not all DAFFY DUCK’S MOVIE: FANTASY ISLAND

TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA is the third movie from writer/director Jane Schoenbrun. I haven’t seen WE’RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR (2021), but I did see I SAW THE TV GLOW (2024), which was released by A24 to great acclaim and adulation.

I confess I didn’t get that one. Didn’t even feel qualified to review it. I love its look, and I was impressed by its cr...

TUNER is a pretty simple and well-constructed little crime movie, about a quiet, unassuming protagonist with very specific talents, vulnerabilities and needs. It feels like it could’ve come from some brilliant but under-the-radar paperback, a quick but satisfying read. One thing that makes it distinct is that it’s also a romance – more of a romance than a crime movie...