Author: Max Rider

(L-R) Jessica Hynes, Téa Leoni, Will Poulter, Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, and Anthony Carrigan in Death of a Unicorn. Courtesy of A24 Press In a world of endless sequels, remakes, and bottom-of-the-barrel IP, an original idea can go a long way. With a starry cast, a snappy trailer, and a genuinely neat conceit, Death of a Unicorn seemed like a movie that could break through to audiences looking beyond cinema’s biggest brands. And though there are glimmers of greatness tucked away in this film, its full potential goes unrealized and this fantastical, pharmaceutical flick ends up surprisingly unmemorable. DEATH OF…

Naomi Watts in The Friend Matt Infante/Courtesy of Bleecker Street Sigrid Nunez’s slight novel The Friend makes for an unlikely adaptation. The award-winning book, released in 2018, is scant in terms of plot and shifts between thoughtful reflection and references to other works. It’s self-reflexive at times, and occasionally pretentious in its high-brow approach. But writers and directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel have not only made the story accessible onscreen, they have infused it with a raw emotional life that was less easily attained in print.  THE FRIEND ★★★1/2 (3.5/4 stars)Directed by: Scott McGehee, David SiegelWritten by: Scott McGehee, David SiegelStarring:…

Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal in Othello Julieta Cervantes First time I saw Denzel Washington do Shakespeare it was free. Central Park, 1990: He was a stone-cold Richard III worth waiting hours for at the Delacorte. Thirty-five years on, I still get to see him declaim the Bard gratis—through the privilege of a press comp. It would be unaffordable otherwise. Perhaps you’ve read about the extortionate prices at Broadway’s latest Othello: $921 for the mezz?! Much has changed since the summer Washington gave his crookback Richard. For one thing, people are willing to part with much greater sums to ogle…

From left: Zoë Roberts, Jak Malone, Natasha Hodgson, David Cumming and Claire-Marie Hall in Operation Mincemeat. Julieta Cervantes Given our national politics, the British musical Operation Mincemeat couldn’t arrive on Broadway at a more apposite time. Here’s a show that glamourizes deep state civil servants as hard-working, idealistic heroes using guile and grit to bring down Hitler. By contrast, we have people in the White House waving prop chainsaws and tweeting that federal bureaucrats are worse than Der Führer…who maybe wasn’t such a bad guy, had some interesting ideas. In the gross topsy-turveydom of Bizarro America, we sure could use…

John Leguizamo and Barbie Ferreira in Bob Trevino Likes It Courtesy of Roadside Attractions In an age when we all get daily inundations of text message invites from strangers with weird area codes (“Do you have plans for tomorrow? Have dinner together?”), it’s almost impossible to imagine a time when such a request could be innocent and well-meaning rather than a nefarious attempt to hollow your bank account. BOB TREVINO LIKES IT ★★★ (3/4 stars)Directed by: Tracie Laymon Written by: Tracie Laymon Starring: Barbie Ferreira, John Leguizamo, French Stewart, Rachel Bay Jones, Lauren ‘Lolo’ SpencerRunning time: 102 mins. Bob Trevino Likes It, the feature…

From left: Isiah Whitlock Jr., Dan Perrault, Spencer Garrett, Uzo Aduba, Randall Park, Andrew Friedman, Ken Marino, Molly Griggs in The Residence. Erin Simkin/Courtesy of Netflix A TV murder mystery has an eternal appeal, typically captivating viewers with a slow revelation of clues that allows the audience to be part of the discovery. It’s a genre that can shift its tone easily, from serious drama to witty comedy, and television detectives have long been beloved characters. The Residence, created by Paul William Davies and produced by Shondaland, hits many of these tropes, embracing a quirky lead detective and a slew…

Page Michels, Natasha Isabella Gesto and Colin Aikins. Photo: Maria Baranova New York parents, more than anyone else, should be freaked out by The Turn of the Screw. Why? When childcare in New York City costs, on average, around fifteen thousand dollars a year and most of the people doing that labor make, on average, around ten dollars an hour, things are bound to get tense. But Benjamin Britten’s opera about child care and the weight of unspeakable trauma is tense from its first moment. The man we meet has two children in his “care”—not that he actually cares about…

Daniel Abeles in Amerikin. Justin Swader “White Supremacist Hopeful Becomes Target of His Own Hate.” So reads the headline that undergirds Chisa Hutchinson’s play Amerikin, a tragricomedy that registers closer to reality than fiction. Produced by Primary Stages for its Off-Broadway debut, the show tells the story of Jeffrey Browning, a young father with a new baby and a wife coping with postpartum depression in Sharpsburg, Maryland.  Sharpsburg looms large in American history. Maryland was a slave state, its northern and eastern borders demarcate the Mason Dixon Line, and Sharpsburg is home to the Antietam battlefield, where the bloodiest battle…

Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn, Chase Sui Wonders and Seth Rogen in The Studio. Courtesy of Apple TV+ “Here at Continental, we don’t make films, we make movies,” declares CEO Griffin Mills (Bryan Cranston) as he promotes long-suffering suit Matt Remick (Seth Rogen) to head of the century-old Continental Studios. And though there isn’t a term to make the same kind of highbrow vs. lowbrow, pretentious vs. popcorn distinction for TV, The Studio falls on the “film” end of the spectrum while still managing to be “movie”-level entertaining. The new comedy series by Rogen and Evan Goldberg sees Hollywood at its…

Even if you’ve seen Minus 16 before, you haven’t seen this Minus 16. Photo: Jeanette Bak New York City is considered the international hub for dance for two reasons: the many renowned dance companies based here and the world-class dance companies that come through to perform. Gauthier Dance/Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart’s engagement at The Joyce Theater through March 16 is evidence of the latter and a reason for New Yorkers to rejoice. Gauthier Dance was founded in 2007 by Artistic Director Eric Gauthier, a former soloist with the Stuttgart Ballet. The company of sixteen dancers has quickly made a name…