A Dune 2 primer, cinematic messiahs, and more from this week in film

11 movies to check out on Netflix this March

A trio of Netflix originals highlight the streamer’s March film offerings. Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown plays a princess trapped in the cave of a fearsome dragon in the dark fantasy Damsel. In the biographical drama Shirley, Oscar-winner Regina King plays Shirley Chisholm, who ran for president in 1972. And Adam Sandler plays an astronaut collecting his thoughts at the edge of the solar system in the sci-fi drama Spaceman. Other movies added to Netflix’s streaming library in March 2024 include the sci-fi film Voyagers starring Tye Sheridan and Colin Farrell, the rom-com fantasy Irish Wish starring Lindsay Lohan, the horror movie Bodies Bodies Bodies starring Pete Davidson, and 2014’s Godzilla, to whet your appetite for this month’s theatrical sequel, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. Read More

Complex messiahs: The 12 greatest sci-fi saviors from film and TV

When Dune: Part Two arrives in theaters on March 1, we’ll finally get to see Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides complete his arc from sheltered royal heir to full-on space messiah. It got us thinking about the classic trope of the chosen one, and the other great examples in science-fiction films and TV shows. As Hitchhiker’s Guide To Galaxy author Douglas Adams once put it, “It’s one thing to think that you’re the center of the universe—it’s another thing entirely to have this confirmed by an ancient prophecy.” Read More

Spaceman review: Adam Sandler’s Netflix drama fails to achieve liftoff

There are more nuanced and no doubt just as accurate ways of describing Spaceman than “the Adam Sandler Netflix flick where the actor talks with a giant spider about loneliness for close to two hours.” In the end, though, such a logline is arguably a fitting way to describe Johan Renck’s dour, self-serious adaptation of Jaroslav Kalfař’s philosophically minded novel, Spaceman Of Bohemia. And while others may find in this visually arresting outer space drama a probing meditation on grief and marriage (not to mention human alienation writ-large), I never did warm up to this Colby Day-penned character study, finding it much too caught up in its own ambitions to make its emotional beats pay off. Read More

Coen brother, where art thou: When Joel & Ethan Coen go solo

“I had a partner. He threw himself off the George Washington Bridge.” – Llewyn Davis

Absence defines Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis. Following the suicide of Mike, the likable half of his folk duo, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) ekes out a living couch surfing from one dingy Greenwich Village apartment to another, mourning his partner’s passing in public isolation on dim coffeehouse stages. Throughout the film, Llewyn’s alienation bumps against other, more successful partnerships that implicitly and explicitly remind him of what he’s lost and refuses to regain. Whether with a trio managed by a folk kingmaker or a dinnertime duet with a doting benefactor, replacing his partner Mike is anathema to Llewyn. As he sings, “Life ain’t worth living without the one you love.” Read More

March 2024 film preview: Blockbuster sequels come roaring back to theaters

Summer movie season comes earlier every year, and 2024 is no exception. After surviving the harsh winter with nothing to warm us but a Madame Web and a Mean Girls musical, the ides of March bring a diverse batch of movies back to the cinema. Dune: Part Two, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire are but a few of the sequel offerings from major studios, while a healthy crop of comedies, horror films, and thrillers round out a busy month. Read More

Everything you need to remember about Dune: Part One to get ready for Dune: Part Two

It’s been two years, five months, and four days since Dune: Part One was released in theaters, but who’s counting? After a strike-induced delay, the sequel’s fall 2023 release date was scrapped. The story will finally continue when Dune: Part Two opens on March 1. If you haven’t watched the first installment of Denis Villeneuve’s ambitious take on Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi saga recently, or you just need a little help keeping the dense mythology straight, read on. We’ve put together a handy primer that will catch you up on everything that’s happened so far. Read More

11 movies to check out on Prime Video this March

Got Road House? This month Amazon’s Prime Video has two versions of the action movie: the 1989 original starring Patrick Swayze at peak Swayze-ness and the 2024 Doug Liman-directed remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a UFC middleweight fighter working as a bouncer at a roadhouse in the Florida Keys. Other new arrivals in the Prime Video library this March include the recent horror blockbuster Five Nights At Freddy’s, based on the video game series of the same name, Neil Jordan’s neo-noir crime thriller Marlowe starring Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange, the Peter Farrelly comedy Ricky Stanicky starring Zac Efron and John Cena, the new documentary Frida, about Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, plus catalog titles such as Desperately Seeking Susan, What Lies Beneath, Sleepy Hollow, Waterworld, and more. Read More

Problemista review: Surrealist comedy has no problem getting laughs

Problemista, the debut film from stand-up comedian, SNL Melania whisperer, and Los Espookys co-creator Julio Torres, lands closer to UHF than Being John Malkovich, creating a slick and consistently hilarious comedic satire that aims to please more than challenge. Abandoning the confidence of his “Space Prince” stage persona, Torres lowers his status as Alejandro, an aspiring toymaker who immigrates from his mother’s compound in El Salvador to the grime-caked apartments of Brooklyn. Read More

Richard Lewis kvetched to a new generation with Robin Hood: Men In Tights

Richard Lewis was always around in the early ’90s. Between guest spots on Letterman and the slew of stand-up specials and clips that ran on HBO and Comedy Central, one could find Richard Lewis pulling his hair out on stage at any time of the day. Known for a self-deprecating style that bordered on self-evisceration, Lewis never appeared particularly regal, except for one little role: Robin Hood: Men In Tights’ Prince John. For many children raised by television in the late ’80s and early ’90s, it was an introduction to Richard Lewis’ miserable world. Read More

Here are all the new characters in Dune: Part Two and who’s playing them

All the hottest stars are dying to get into Hollywood’s most elite club. No, it’s not Soho House or the bar at the Chateau Marmont or even the Oscar nominees luncheon; it’s the Dune franchise. Or at least the first two films of what’s sure to become a larger franchise. Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-winning 2021 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel starred Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, and Stellan Skarsgård, to name a few. Who wouldn’t want to join a party with such an impressive guest list? Read More