Mara Reinstein

4 stars (out of 4) I have no idea what Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson’s relationship was like before they started shooting Marriage Story. Perhaps they knew each other peripherally because Driver has hosted Saturday Night Live and Johansson is engaged to its co-head writer Colin Jost. Or maybe they met on the awards circuit […]

Once upon a time in Hollywood, ready-made titles such as the Avengers, Toy Story, The Lion King, Spider-Man and Aladdin didn’t have total dominance at the summer box-office. Instead, smaller-budgeted, shockingly original options balanced out the popcorn fare. (Don’t believe me? A few recent examples: Boyhood, The Big Sick, RBG and (500) Days of Summer.) […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham aren’t here for the Oscar buzz. With a super-sized screen presence, these hulking, follicle-free actors just want to crack some bones and a few tongue-in-cheek jokes. And, hey, serving up one last treat during a brutal summer wouldn’t hurt them either. They go the extra […]

3 stars (out of 4) You know what you’re going to get in a Quentin Tarantino movie, right? Bold storytelling with a dash of sly humor. Kick-ass Kong Fu fighting. A painstakingly curated killer soundtrack. Unnecessary narration. Blood of the gushing variety. References to obscure cinema. The writer-director has a unique style, and he’s an […]

Yes, JoJo Fletcher still proudly wears the 3.65-carat diamond Neil Lane engagement ring that Jordan Rodgers presented to her on the season finale of The Bachelorette in 2016. But these days, the couple are more interested in remodeling garages than heading to the altar. “After the show, there was this big buzz about what we […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) A new take on The Lion King? Featuring one Beyoncé Carter-Knowles as a future queen?! It would be so easy to Hakuna Matata this baby and just butter the popcorn. Instead, I urge you to adhere to one of the lesser-known soundtrack titles and be prepared. Though gorgeously rendered to […]

Untitled Teenage Sex Comedy that Can Be Made for Under $10 million That Most Readers Will Probably Hate But I Think You Will Love. That was the working title of the original screenplay Adam Herz shopped around in the late 1990s. It evolved into American Pie, and it wasn’t just the studio executives ate it […]

3 stars (out of 4) Hey, what have you been up to for the past couple of months? Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man emerged from his five-year disappearance to assist the Avengers in defeating Thanos. Now the teen from Queens has the world on a web in the impressively entertaining Spider-Man: Far From Home — in […]

Toy Story is 25 years old. You’d have to literally be made of plastic to not know about Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Rex, Slinky, Hamm and the Potato Heads by now. We love them. We have a friend in them. Rest assured that the original gang are still in play mode for the magnificent Toy Story 4, which revolves […]

“You know what the difference is between you and me? I make this look gooooood.” And with that classic line, Will Smith put on his Ray-Ban shades and completed his smooth secret agent look in the super-sharp Men in Black. Wanna know what the difference is between the 1997 sci-fi comedy blockbuster and Men in Black: International? It […]

Whoa, forget all those superheroes and monsters. The hottest star of the summer is an enigmatic 54-year-old actor that made his movie debut back in 1986. Keanu Reeves is suddenly everywhere, from red carpets to a Netflix romcom to TV talk shows. And you know what’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing! Reeves is having a […]

Warning: This story features Rocketman spoilers! Don’t call Rocketman a biopic. Sure, it’s the wildly entertaining (if a bit unwieldy) story of how Elton John went from a lonely kid to outrageous hit-making rock star. But everyone involved in the production (including John himself) has underlined the fact that this is a musical fantasy. Translation? […]

3.5 stars (out of 4) At first glance, Always Be My Maybe seems like every other bouncy next-gen Netflix rom-com in your “Because you watched Set It Up” queue. You know, a congenial couple get past their differences and fall in love. Banter, banter, happily-ever-after. In some ways, it is that movie. It’s also one […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) The Sun Is Also a Star is a so-so Gen Z spin on Before Sunrise with a dash of Serendipity. You’ve seen it all before and you’ll probably forget about it as soon as the lights go up. But look on the bright side: At least this adaptation of the […]

Contrary to popular belief (and its $2 billion worldwide box-office gross), Avengers: End Game was not the real start of the summer movie season. That Goliath was kind of like a tulip sticking out of the ground after a thaw. Now we’re in the weeds, baby. From this moment until mid-August, a slew of heavy […]

Reality Bites wasn’t the biggest blockbuster of the 1990s, not even remotely close. In fact, a drama called Blue Chips starring then-NBA star Shaquille O’Neal beat it at the box office in its opening weekend in February 1994. But 25 years after the film’s premiere, the comedy about four friends in Houston trying to navigate their lives post-college […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) Zac Efron, swoon. Close your eyes, and I bet you can still remember how you felt watching him sing and dance to “Get’Cha Head in the Game” for the first time in 2006. Thirteen years later, the actor is once again putting his twinkling blue eyes and magnetic smile to […]

Who lives? Who dies? Is Baby Groot going to be OK? Truth is, the biggest spoiler for Avengers: Endgame has already been circulating for a few weeks: This movie is more than three hours long. So you already know you’re in for a sweeping epic of grand proportions. This review is here to provide you […]

3 stars (out of 4 stars) Crazy Rich Asians might have saved the romcom at the box office last year, but Netflix gave the genre lots of sunshine, TLC, nourishment and watched it grow back to life. The behemoth’s latest entry? The raunchy Someone Great, starring Gina Rodriguez and Lakeith Stanfield. It’s not quite as […]

Some people are born superheroes, others are made. Then there’s Shazam, a guy in a goofy suit who manages to defy all the increasingly stale origin story conventions. He’s unique, he’s entertaining and he’s pure joy to watch. Exactly how much goodwill does Shazam! build up? Put it this way: Despite some flaws with the […]

Only an April fool would think it’s too early in the year for major summer-type movie blockbusters, and you’re no fool. Why, just a year ago, Avengers: Infinity War, A Quiet Place and Blockers broke records at the box office. As for this year’s group? If you thought the great Captain Marvel was a smash […]