The Film Stage

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Peter Browngardt) Directed by...

When people call music cinematic, I think they just mean it sounds like it could be in a movie. About which, fair: being in a movie would do so. But the term is a little frivolous and unevocative. So take...

Note: This interview was originally published as part of our 2024 NYFF coverage. Afternoons of Solitude opens in theaters on June 27. When J. Hoberman placed game 6 of the 1986 World Series on his Village Voice year-end list, we...

Our generation’s The Two Jakes? That’s where the mind goes, but if David Fincher is (speaking creatively) something like the modern Polanski, I suspect Aaron Sorkin isn’t even as good a director as Jack Nicholson. Much as these comparisons were...

Note: This interview was originally published as part of our 2025 Sundance coverage. Sorry, Baby opens in theaters on June 27. Agnes’ (Eva Victor) life is defined by a sense of stagnancy. Four years after completing grad school in rural...

With summer time upon us, it is fitting to begin with the most sun-drenched feature of Wes Anderson’s career, followed by a gem from J. Hoberman, an essential biography of James Gandolfini, and plenty more to read while working on...

Following news that Wong Kar-wai’s long-awaited Blossoms Shanghai would finally be getting a North American release this year courtesy of the Criterion Channel, Janus Films has another surprise from the director debuting in theaters this week. Following a Valentine’s Day...

Earning acclaim from a festival run that included the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Film Fest Knox, Austin Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and more, Kelsey Taylor’s directorial debut To Kill a Wolf explores teenage sexual grooming as a...

Note: This review was originally published as part of our Sundance 2024 coverage. Ponyboi opens in theaters on June 25. Life for Ponyboi (River Gallo) has been no walk in the park. “I was born a little different,” he explains...

Sports are at their dramatic best when the improbable occurs. So are the movies that portray those implausible stories. From Rudy to Rookie of the Year, America loves a narrative that tracks the rise of the five-foot-nothings and, well, the...