David Rooney

‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’ Review: Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Maika Monroe Smudge the Line Between Victim and Villain in Bland Remake Raúl Castillo and Martin Starr round out the cast of Michelle Garza Cervera’s modern spin for Hulu on the hit 1992 Curtis Hanson thriller about a vengeful nanny.

Curtis Hanson's 1992 vengeful-nanny psycho thriller, THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, has rightly lived on in lurid splendor (Marlene! 💔😢). But this insipid Hulu remake will likely be sucked into the streaming maw & never mentioned again. Bye bye, baby.
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‘Frankenstein’ Review: Guillermo del Toro Transcends Horror in Emotionally Charged Take on Mary Shelley Led by Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz also star in a grand-scale passion project for Netflix that the iconoclastic director has been gestating for decades.

Now in theaters ahead of its Nov. 7 Netflix drop, Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN is a fever dream he’s been nurturing his entire career. Gothic horror, romance, tragedy, with a heartrending performance by Jacob Elordi. Loved this; see it on a big screen.
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I hope you enjoy it!

‘The Mastermind’ Review: Josh O’Connor Lands on Kelly Reichardt’s Precise Wavelength in an Understated, Funny-Sad Heist Movie Like No Other Alana Haim, Bill Camp and Hope Davis also feature in this early ‘70s-set story of an out-of-work carpenter who pulls off a major art theft without thinking it through.

In theaters Friday, Kelly Reichardt’s gorgeous, funny-sad ‘70s-set art heist movie THE MASTERMIND is led by another deeply lived-in performance from Josh O’Connor, whose rumpled charm reminded me of his beautiful work in LA CHIMERA. One of the year's best.
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‘Blue Moon’ Review: Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley Mesmerize in Richard Linklater’s Affecting Study of a Gifted Artist on a Downhill Slide Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott co-star in this real-time account of musical-theater lyricist Lorenz Hart getting pickled at Sardi’s on opening night of his former writing partner’s Broadway triumph,...

Now in theaters: Ethan Hawke gives one of the year's most haunting performances in Richard Linklater's intimate, real-time character study BLUE MOON, as a creative artist on a precipitous downslide. Great work from Margaret Qualley and Andrew Scott, too.
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Critic’s Appreciation: The Irreplaceable Diane Keaton Modernized the Screwball Heroine With Sophistication, Intellect and Singular Style The Oscar-winning star of ‘Annie Hall,’ ‘Manhattan,’ all three ‘Godfather’ movies, ‘Reds’ and ‘The First Wives Club' was a one-of-a-kind screen presence.

Some thoughts on the sublime Diane Keaton. Truly one of a kind. ANNIE HALL was a formative movie for me and the searing marital-breakdown drama SHOOT THE MOON remains one of the most under-appreciated films of the '80s. A tremendous loss.
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‘Is This Thing On?’ Review: Will Arnett and Laura Dern Are a Delight in Bradley Cooper’s Warmhearted Flipside to ‘Marriage Story’ In his third outing as director, a comic drama about stand-up as divorce therapy, Cooper also appears alongside Andra Day, Christine Ebersole and Ciarán Hinds.

Following A STAR IS BORN and MAESTRO, director Bradley Cooper is now 3 for 3. Closing #NYFF2025 on a resoundingly sweet note, IS THIS THING ON? is a beautifully observed comic drama about marriage and standup, with stellar work from Will Arnett & Laura Dern
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Yeah, it's too bad. Stone has directed top-notch theater (esp. YERMA, with Billie Piper) and did a solid job on THE DIG, also for Netflix, with Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes. I wasn't completely bored by this, but not fully engaged either. Original streaming movies were sent to punish us!

‘The Woman in Cabin 10’ Review: Keira Knightley and Guy Pearce Give Billionaires on Yachts a Bad Name in Serviceable Whodunit Adaptation David Ajala, Art Malik and Hannah Waddingham also star in Simon Stone’s murder mystery for Netflix, based on the bestseller by Brit novelist Ruth Ware.

Keira Knightley and Guy Pearce class up the joint but Simon Stone's shipboard murder mystery for Netflix, THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10, is a snooze cruise until it picks up speed in the closing stretch. Still, watchable enough while multitasking.
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‘Tron: Ares’ Review: Jared Leto and Greta Lee Bring New Blood To Vintage Cyber Franchise, With a Big Kick From Nine Inch Nails’ Hard-Driving Score Jeff Bridges returns alongside Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith and Gillian Anderson in Joachim Rønning’s installment about the collision of human and digital worlds.

The instantly forgettable TRON: LEGACY made me dread TRON: ARES. But as a Monday morning IMAX wakeup with a killer Nine Inch Nails score and solid work from Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith & Gillian Anderson, it was surprisingly tasty popcorn.
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‘Calle Málaga’ Review: A Luminous Carmen Maura Brings Warmth, Magnetism and Indomitable Pluck to Touching Moroccan Domestic Drama The country’s submission for best international feature consideration at the 2026 Oscars is a story of aging without surrender, set in the Spanish-speaking community of Tangier.

Anyone who has loved the luminous Carmen Maura since her Almodóvar days will warm to CALLE MALAGA, Maryam Touzani's buoyant drama about a woman in the Spanish community of Tangier who refuses to be displaced. Morocco's Oscar entry is a gentle charmer.
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Thanks, Kim!

‘Play Dirty’ Review: Mark Wahlberg Lacks the Spark to Sell a Sardonic Master Criminal in Shane Black’s Ho-Hum Heist Caper LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key and Tony Shalhoub also star in Amazon Prime’s action-thriller based on Donald E. Westlake’s ‘Parker’ novels.

Another day, another synthetic direct-to-streaming movie. Shane Black's '90s throwback heist thriller for Amazon, PLAY DIRTY, had me once again asking, "Why is Mark Wahlberg a movie star?" Among other questions.
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‘Waiting for Godot’ Theater Review: Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter’s Beckett Spin Nails the Absurdist Tragicomedy but Underserves the Angst Directed by Jamie Lloyd, the latest Broadway revival of the 1952 play that marries bleak existentialism with broken-down vaudeville also features Brandon J. Dirden and Michael Patrick Thornton.

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter bring the disarming chemistry of a decades-long friendship to what Broadway pundits have dubbed BILL & TED’S EXISTENTIAL ADVENTURE. But they don’t quite have the stage chops to explore WAITING FOR GODOT’s bleakest depths.
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‘Anemone’ Review: Daniel Day-Lewis Makes a Commanding Return to the Screen in a Drama That Seldom Approaches His Earth-Shaking Force Sean Bean and Samantha Morton also star in this portrait of familial bonds shattered by violence, directed by Ronan Day-Lewis and premiering at the New York Film Festival.

Great to see Daniel Day-Lewis back on screen after eight years and in magnificent form. But little else in ANEMONE, a drama of family bonds shattered by violence, comes close to his magnetic intensity. My review of the #NYFF premiere.
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Yes! That chase captured mainly in long- and mid-shots on the lonely highway toward the end is an incredible sequence. Just exhilarating.

It's an extraordinary movie. Hope you enjoy.

Box Office: ‘One Battle After Another’ Earns $8.8M Opening, Eyeing $21M Weekend Universal’s kid offering ‘Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie’ is looking at the No. 2 spot this weekend.

Strong start for Paul Thomas Anderson's wildly entertaining ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. Can't remember the last time I was so invested in a film's box office success. If we want smart, grownup movies, people need to turn out for releases like this.
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He definitely gives the women space to flesh out their roles; even Hall, the most quietly heart-wrenching of them. But the male characters are no less vivid. Leo is very moving as a revolutionary-turned-stoner, Sean Penn is astonishing — half-crazy, half-scary — and Benicio del Toro is in top form.

Leonardo DiCaprio deserves all the praise coming his way for Paul Thomas Anderson's provocative and entertaining firecracker ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. Ditto Sean Penn & Benicio del Toro. But the women are the movie's beating heart: Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall & gifted newcomer Chase Infiniti.

Such a kick to come back from vacation and find that all the excitement generated by Paul Thomas Anderson's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is 100% justified. Smart, incisive, uncannily keyed into our current political moment and brought to life by a superlative ensemble. Incredible chase sequences.

Critic’s Notebook: Robert Redford, an American Icon Who Dazzled the Screen With His Beauty and Captured a Nation With His Complexity The star of classics like 'All the President's Men' and 'Three Days of the Condor' rose to fame in an era marked by pessimism and political strife, which would fuel his best work both as an actor and ...

Jordan Mintzer's perceptive appreciation of Robert Redford's gift for conveying complex emotions via the subtlest of means is a must-read.
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THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR

a close up of a woman with her mouth open . ALT: a close up of a woman with her mouth open .

Loooove THE SHALLOWS. Justin Baldoni's favorite film, people say.

I had never heard this anecdote. Just bliss. And recounted so beautifully. Didn't think I could love Maureen Stapleton more, but as an Australian c--t myself, I wept with laughter.

Nowhere yet. I think it's still being shopped to find a distributor

Her furs are a real event

‘Motor City’ Review: Alan Ritchson and Shailene Woodley Wade Through Cliché in Overstretched Stylistic Exercise Ben Foster and Pablo Schreiber also star in Potsy Ponciroli’s violent crime thriller set in 1977 Detroit, which played at both the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.

An adrenalized crime thriller told with minimal dialogue, MOTOR CITY is a bold experiment hobbled by clichéd writing and a strained conceit. Alan Ritchson muscles his way through but Shailene Woodley and Ben Foster are like refugees from a SOPRANOS parody.
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Thank you, Dan!

Best of the Fall Fests: THR’s Critics Picks A cathartic tearjerker about Shakespeare’s family, Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear threat thriller and a wrenching Gaza docudrama are among THR reviewers’ 15 faves out of Venice, Telluride and Toronto.

The Hollywood Reporter critics team rounds up 15 favorites from Venice, Telluride and Toronto, including new films from Guillermo del Toro, Kathryn Bigelow, Chloé Zhao, Jim Jarmusch, Laura Poitras and more.
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