Mara Reinstein

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! As the Us Weekly film critic, I’m obviously referring to the return of the Starbucks red cups. Coming in a close second: A slew of holiday movies so promising that they might as well be tied up in a ribbon. Crowd-pleasing comedies? Done. Superhero extravaganzas? Duh. Offerings […]

Bohemian Rhapsody 3 stars (out of 4) Queen front man Freddie Mercury was a larger-than-life showman in every sense of the word. The notion of an actor capturing his stage presence, let alone his fiery persona, in a film has long seemed as daunting a task as playing the piano solo of “Bohemian Rhapsody” while […]

I do think Lady Gaga will win the Best Actress Oscar, as this is a once-in-a-lifetime role and she truly shines in it. But can we just agree that the movie loses its way a bit in the second half? That Grammys scene was waaaay over the top. Anyway! We can table the A Star […]

3 stars (out of 4) Did you hear about Michael Meyers? Years and years ago — when he was just 6 years old — Michael put on a mask and methodically stabbed his older sister to death. Then in 1978, he knifed a bunch of teenagers on Halloween night. The only survivor was a babysitter […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) Timothee Chalamet’s Best Actor Oscar nod was no fluke. A year after his tender turn as a teen coming to grips with his sexuality in Call Me by Your Name, he amazes again. And it must be noted that his role as an affluent, spiraling junkie named Nic Sheff is […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) Stop if you’ve this one before: A preacher, a backup singer, a salesman and a foul-mouthed girl walk into a deserted hotel lobby in 1969. In a comedy, this would be the set-up of an elaborate joke. Bad Times at the El Royale takes the premise and unspools an unsatisfying […]

Tom Hardy plays a vicious Marvel comic book character. Bradley Cooper plays a washed-up country star singing the blues. A year ago, only one of these two lead performances seemed like a sure bet for box office and critical success. Then came the twist: While A Star is Born is on the edge of glory, […]

3.5 stars (out of 4) What does the new wave of YA storytelling look like? I’m pleased to report that brooding vampires and bleak dystopian universes are totally on the outs. Instead, the hard-hitting focus is on the struggle to find your voice amid a racially and socially charged American landscape. This is the backbone […]

Sorry, Survivor fans: There will not be an all-winners season. At least, not if longtime host and executive producer Jeff Probst has his way. “We can’t do all winners,” Probst, 56, tells Us Weekly. “As a producer, I would never suggest it. I would say it’s not a good idea.” Certainly, there is no shortage […]

2 Stars (out of 4) It took six male screenwriters to achieve the impossible: Make Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish seem like mere comedy mortals. Their first collaboration, Night School, is a mediocre disappointment that features plenty of banter but almost no bite. Though both stars have cut their teeth on, well, cutting humor, they […]

2 stars (out of 4) Everything happens for a reason. While that cliché may be comforting in theory — my heartbreak now will end in bliss later! — it’s lazy when used in a film. The self-aware Life Itself shoves this message down your throat along with a vat of sugar. Open at your own […]

It’s an unseasonably chilly Sunday evening at the Toronto International Film Festival. You could turn in early and take advantage of the festival’s most coveted commodity — that would be sleep — or you could go to the premiere of that glittery Lady Gaga musical. Or Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, Mid-90s. Or If Beale Street Could Talk, […]

3 stars (out of 4) THIS MOVIE HAS GONE OFF THE RAILS. I usually can’t decipher what I scribble in my little notebook during movie screenings. I’m ensconced in darkness and my senses are overwhelmed by the images on the screen. During A Simple Favor, I wrote those words in big block letters and underlined […]

4 stars (out of 4) Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. An American hero that risked his life to push space exploration into a new frontier. His tale of triumph and tragedy will be read in history books forever. So any big screen biography will surely be a vast, feel-good […]

They may no longer waltzing in the air, but for Emma Stone, her La La Land costar Ryan Gosling will always hold a special place in her heart. “I can’t even imagine what my life would be without Ryan,” Stone gushed of her “dear, wonderful friend” during a Q&A at the 45th annual Telluride Film […]

3 stars (out of 4) So this is what Lady Gaga looks like. Mousy shoulder-length brown hair protecting a delicate angular face. Fair complexion with a few faint freckles, defined nose, almond eyes. In the moving and exhilarating A Star Is Born, Bradley Cooper — making his directorial debut — likes to place the camera […]

Summer is finally over, yesssss. You know what that means, right? Dwayne Johnson takes a vacation, while Ryan Gosling and Nicole Kidman get busy. We’ll see families come together and families break apart in ways that will gut the heart. (Want families devoured by a shark? That’s what The Meg was for.) Here’s your definitive, […]

1.5 stars (out of 4) Hi there, everyone! This Happytime Murders review is brought to you by the letter “I.” Insipid. Imbeciles. Incomprehensible. Insane. You can use that last word in a sentence such as “The person that thought this witless, crude black noire puppet farce would be a rousing crowd-pleaser must be insane.” The […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) They’re crazy-rich, all right. Think palatial estates and personal chefs and stunning couture gowns and an extravagant bachelor party on a private yacht and a bedroom suite on a jet. So is Crazy Rich Asians, the much-anticipated adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s novel, worth its weight in gold? That’s a yes […]

1.5 stars (out of 4) Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the theater and enjoy old-fashioned summer entertainment. The Meg is closing in fast — and we’re all hapless victims of its D-level ineptitude. Somewhere in Clearwater, Tom Cruise is maniacally laughing. Look, it’s a shark. Specifically, one 75-foot medieval […]

3 stars (out of 4) I don’t like typing the title of BlacKkKlansman. It just looks wrong, aesthetically. I’m fighting the urge to rip it apart and alter it to a more refined Black Klansman. But director Spike Lee isn’t interested in making me feel comfortable. On any level. At his most urgent, he likes […]