movies

For which he needs to invent some prophecy

At a time of rapid secularization, filmmakers seem intrigued—if sometimes also repelled—by religion.

Films about struggling moms and toxic masculinity should challenge traditional gender roles, not applaud them.

Jenna Weissman Joselit reveals how the Ten Commandments have shaped U.S. law and identity.

Boyhood takes 12 years and condenses it into one sitting. With some sort of mystical time-bending power, Linklater does not lose the slow pace. We still have a chance to savor ordinary moments. There’s no Hollywood makeup, smearing artificial age onto the skin. There’s no switch-up of actors. There is the aging process—that alluring rearrangement of the face and body. The effect is astonishing.

One of the most fun films I saw this year was World’s End—the final installment of the trilogy that included Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.