Female Film Critics 24/375
Steven Soderbergh knows how to spot a filmmaker with something to say, and with Love, Brooklyn, he’s backed Rachael Abigail Holder’s moody, sun-dappled debut. Through the gaze of a Brooklyn cyclist who pedals as though the city’s chaotic traffic is nothing more than atmospheric background, Holder offers us a meandering but thoughtful meditation on love, change, and that hazy thing we call “moving on.”
Read more
Anytime is a good time to see Nicole Beharie onscreen. She elevates every project she’s in, but in veteran TV director Rachael Holder’s feature narrative directorial debut, she’s in great company. Love, Brooklyn, released at Sundance 2025, also stars André Holland and DeWanda Wise, and all three are acting up such a storm, they almost make the film’s scant script irrelevant. Almost. Holland plays a bicycle wielding writer not only vacillating between relationships, but also procrastinating on an essay assignment about the magic of an evolving Brooklyn, New York. He’s hanging with ex-girlfriend and gallery owner Casey (Beharie) while in an as-yet-to-be-defined relationship with Nicole (Wise).
Read more
Jurassic World: Dominion marks the return of the human characters who propelled previous sequels. Problem is: as a result of frenzied storylines, numerous gargantuan species and too many bumbling characters, there’s no emotional connection. And when two savage CGI apex predators finally grapple, it’s over a puny deer carcass. Perhaps this cautionary tale heralds the extinction of the once-beloved Jurassic franchise.
Read more
Early in the documentary Body Parts, Rosanna Arquette remembers auditioning in a bikini for a part in the 1991 comedy S.O.B. One day while shooting, director Blake Edwards told her to take her top off. Then nineteen, Arquette hedged, not realizing the role called for nudity. Afraid she’d lose her job, she relented. Such affecting interviews are but one facet of Body Parts, a film that discusses how some creatives are pushing back against exploiting the female body, especially in nude scenes and sex scenes.
Read more
Director Colin Trevorrow keeps the globe-hopping action moving at a brisk pace, likely so viewers don’t ask many questions. The action sequences are effective, easy to track and edited with a blend of wide and closer shots, some with teeth snapping right at the screen. Yet the story lacks teeth: There’s no cohesion, or satisfying setups and payoffs. It’s enough to drive some dino fans buggy.
Read more
Dinosaurs are chasing Bryce Dallas Howard again and this time she’s wearing flats. The good: double the dinosaurs, plenty of action, nostalgia, more snarky Jeff Goldblum, and strong and smart female characters that are the equal of men. The not so good: multiple meh storylines, cheesy acting, and not enough people get eaten. You know that’s what the public really wants.
Read more