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There’s nothing worse than watching a bio-doc about a revolutionary, unique, creative voice that reduces the life story of its subject to the basic beats, using standard techniques instead of embracing that which made this person’s story worth telling in the first place. Director Morgan Neville (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”) likely struggled with this […]

Based on Georgia Hunter’s novel of the same name, a fictionalization of a true story, Hulu’s “We Were the Lucky Ones” is a harrowing tale of resilience and family in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. The improbable story concerns the Polish-Jewish Kurc family, who, beginning with Passover in 1937 until Passover in 1947, will

One of the most disturbing moments in a documentary filled with disturbing moments comes when it’s revealed at the height of the defamation suit against the loathsome Alex Jones that over one in five people didn’t, at the time, believe that there had been a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It can be tempting

A corporate video is not art, as much as its director might want it to be. And yet, the people who work on such projects are expected to display the slavish devotion of passionate and committed artists. Working 18 or 20 hours a day to produce commercial content isn’t worth it, that much is clear.

Is there any scenario in which “Late Night with the Devil” could have delivered on its promise? I’m not seeing it. Set in 1977, the movie envisions a nonexistent fourth commercial broadcast network (there were only three back then) and then imagines a competitor emerging to take down the reigning king of late night talk

Colin Burgess is having a bit of a moment with the buzzy success of the micro-indie “Dad & Step-Dad” and this week’s release of the truly funny and clever “Free Time,” a movie that uses Burgess’ on-screen energy perfectly. Ryan Martin Brown’s film jumps into the oft-visited waters of the quarter-life crisis but it does

John Ridley’s “Shirley” examines the 1972 presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm (Regina King), the first Black woman to be elected to Congress, and the first woman to campaign for the Democratic nomination for President. Across the timeline of her run for office, “Shirley” depicts Chisholm’s fierceness against the misogynoir that looked to suppress her efforts

“I’m afraid of being alone,” intones William Shatner in the opening minutes of “You Can Call Me Bill.” It’s a sentiment that, as he tells it, has pervaded every moment of his life both on and off camera. As Captain Kirk, he barrels out into the universe to satisfy his curiosity about what’s out there.

A local icon in San Francisco who made a national impact on the night club and adult entertainment industries, with the documentary “Carol Doda Topless at the Condor,” filmmakers Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker bring the titular Doda’s story to life with a rich trove of archival materials and new talking head interviews with Doda’s

The Russell Crowe renaissance feels like it’s just around the corner. Although I’ve been saying that since “The Nice Guys,” so I could be wrong. He’s undeniably reached a phase of his career in which he has nothing left to prove, and he’s often the best thing about every project he’s in. (He made “The