Mara Reinstein

3 stars (out of 4) Stop right there, Bond, Bourne and Ethan Hunt. In the slight-if-hysterical cloak-and-dagger farce The Spy Who Dumped Me, Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon show all these debonair international men of mystery how to get the job done while serving up a trunk-load of laughs. The actresses are shaken but not […]

So August used to a dumping ground for crap movies. You know, the ones not shiny enough to hack it over the Fourth of July holiday weekend and not fancy enough to be released in the fall. But in August 1993, a Harrison Ford vehicle called The Fugitive hit theaters, which turned out to be […]

3 stars (out of 4) Guess who’s here to save the summer from the comedy doldrums? Hint: It ain’t The Equalizer 2. The answer is . . . five wisecracking animated superheroes named Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy. They call themselves the Teen Titans. And their very funny first feature, Teen Titans Go! […]

3.5 stars (out of 4) “Why don’t you just die?!!!” The exasperated bad guy that shouts this question to Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible — Fallout deserves the gruesome fate awaiting him. Silly rabbit should know that our indefatigable hero is now in his 22nd year of executing dizzying, dazzling stunts. He’s not […]

3 stars (out of 4) My, my, how can we resist you? We can’t, actually. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a joyful, blissed-out summer treat so sunny that audiences should apply SPF 30 before entering the theater. Just like the hit 2008 original, the charming comedy musical is full of toe-tapping ABBA hits […]

4 stars (out of 4) A 27-year-old male comedy writer-director named Bo Burnham somehow unearthed your tattered junior high journal. He pored over every page. Then he turned the universally awkward and anxiety-ridden experience into the flat-out wonderful coming-of-age tale Eighth Grade. I know. Those two words alone are powerful enough to make a self-assured […]

2 stars (out of 4) Technically speaking, Skyscraper is the only original big-budget actioner of the summer. But is that really true if it haphazardly knocks off Die Hard, The Towering Inferno and the entire Dwayne Johnson disaster oeuvre? The charismatic actor has one flesh-and-blood leg in this movie and none to stand on. Truth. […]

Well, this is interesting. It’s been one solid month into the 2018 summer movie season, and that hot box-office draw known as Ruth Bader Ginsburg has already shown more staying power than Han Solo. (Meanwhile, Elastigirl is flying higher than anyone. Wonder what Deadpool would sneer about that.) The July lineup offers even more possibilities […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) Ant-Man and The Wasp is the third Marvel movie since February, and it’s the smallest by far. I’m not just referring to the miniscule size of its pesky, butt-kicking superheroes. Unlike Black Panther or the sprawling Avengers: Infinity War, you’ll need glasses — and not necessarily the 3D kind — to see […]

3 stars (out of 4) Forget everything you know about undercooked summer movie sequels and spinoffs that seem to exist solely as a quick cash grab for lazy producers. Sicario: Day of the Soldado is as intense and hardcore as a film can get. For what it lacks in a slick title, it makes up […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) “Change is like death,” a character intones early on in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. “You don’t know what it looks like until you’re standing at the gates.” Sure, buddy, whatever you say. The problem is that in a Jurassic Park movie, we know exactly what both look like. Change? Bad. Death? Gnarly. […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) We’re way past April’s Fools Day so keep in mind that every word in this review is legit. There’s a new comedy in town about five grown men deeply invested in an epic game of tag. Right – that game of tag. It stars a two-time Oscar nominee and a Best Dramatic Actor […]

3 stars (out of 4) Nearly fourteen years have passed since The Incredibles soared into people’s hearts. Kids that devoured it on DVD are now adults content to Netflix and chill. An entirely new Pixar trilogy named Cars has come and gone. So did we really need another installment after such an extended hibernation period? […]

3 stars (0ut 0f 4) A quick warning if you’re coming to the female-fronted Ocean’s 8 in hopes of an ultra-witty, ultra-original confection. A spin on the 2001 hit Ocean’s Eleven, the lark does deliver on its promise of a gaggle of movie stars sauntering their way through light-hearted, velvet-lined shenanigans. But, rather fittingly, it […]

If you’re reading this, you already know Ocean’s 8, the Jurassic World sequel and the Incredibles 2 are coming soon to a MoviePass-friendly Cineplex near you. Dino-mite, amirite? I’m here today to shine a light on a handful of worthy movie alternatives out in June. On second thought . . . These picks so special […]

3 stars (out of 4) There’s something uniquely harrowing about solitary confinement at sea. With supplies limited and solid land a faraway dream — plus, forget about social-connective Insta-stories — you’re forced to rely on your wits and your withering thoughts. Adrift is the latest entry in a subgenre that already includes Life of Pi, Unbroken, All is Lost, […]

When Whitney Houston drowned in a hotel bathtub the night before the Grammy Awards in February 2012, fans were devastated — but not necessarily surprised. The golden-voiced superstar, whose first seven songs hit No. 1 on the pop charts, was open about her decades-long struggles with drugs and alcohol. Now Whitney, an explosive and controversial […]

2 stars (out of 4) If you read all the Fifty Shades of Grey books seven years ago and thought to yourself, “I can’t wait until someone makes a movie about four senior women who get their romance lives turned upside down by all these naughty sexual exploits!” then I’ve got some good news and […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) It seems like fans have had a bad feeling about Solo: A Star Wars Story since its inception. No way a movie plagued with bad production buzz — and an eleventh-hour director change —can possibly capture the spirit of a young Harrison Ford in action. Right? Well, it can. The key is to keep […]

2.5 stars (out of 4) Start the Jeopardy! theme music and think of a comedy sequel that exceeds the original. Can’t do it, right? What seemed surprising, fresh and hilarious at the outset automatically breeds familiarity the second time around. That’s why Deadpool 2 was destined for disappointment. Even the anti-superhero’s brutally funny contempt for […]

Life of the Party 2.5 stars (out of 4) Nobody works harder in a comedy than Melissa McCarthy. And in Life of the Party, she might as well be grunting through an Ironman triathlon while carrying a bag of rocks. Appearing in every scene, the actress literally sweats through her clothes trying to make this […]