'Queen & Slim' Director Melina Matsoukas Explains Why Her Message Is Clear and Direct

Published Nov 28, 2019

Melina Matsoukas's feature directorial debut, Queen & Slim, is not a brave film.   To call something brave is to deify it, to ignore the c...

'Queen & Slim' Is a Revealing Morality Tale that Thrives in Small Moments Directed by Melina Matsoukas

Published Nov 21, 2019

There is a scene in Melina Matsoukas's Queen & Slim that depicts Jodie Turner-Smith's Queen having her braids removed — so as to change her...

Alexandria Maillot Benevolence

Published Nov 19, 2019

Alexandria Maillot's voice has been compared to that of many — Feist, Stevie Nicks and Brittany Howard. I'd like to add my own comparison: a...

'The Good Liar' Is More Than a Cat and Mouse Thriller Directed by Bill Condon

Published Nov 15, 2019

Ten minutes deep and on the face of it, The Good Liar is about love.   Indeed, director Bill Condon and cinematographer Tobias A. Schliess...

iskwē acākosīk

Published Nov 05, 2019

iskwē's sound is a gift. On her latest album, acākosīk, her voice is at times broad and strong, landing like a punch to the face, and at oth...

Half Moon Run A Blemish in the Great Light

Published Oct 31, 2019

At first listen, Half Moon Run's latest album, A Blemish in the Great Light, is inoffensive. The record sounds much like what the indie rock...

'Black and Blue' Exposes the Horror of Police Brutality Directed by Deon Taylor

Published Oct 25, 2019

During the third act of Black and Blue, the audience applauded many times — it seemed the only way to expel the tension everyone's nerves we...

Cigarettes After Sex Are Purposefully in Their Feelings on 'Cry'

Published Oct 24, 2019

When Greg Gonzalez, founding member and vocalist of ambient-pop band Cigarettes After Sex, speaks, he does so in pictures.   Talking about...

Cigarettes After Sex Cry

Published Oct 22, 2019

American ambient pop band Cigarettes After Sex have a deceptively simple way of doing things. Their 2017 EP was self-titled, and this full-l...

'The Laundromat' Has Fun Letting the Rich Off the Hook Directed Steven Soderbergh

Published Oct 17, 2019

At one point in The Laundromat, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas — each in character as Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca, respectively — tur...

Basement Revolver Wax and Digital

Published Oct 15, 2019

Basement Revolver's new EP, Wax and Digital, is a wonderful playground of contradictions. It's a worthy and textured successor to their beau...

Lisa Prank Perfect Love Song

Published Oct 01, 2019

Pop punk band Lisa Prank's latest album, Perfect Love Song, lands in a manner similar to the gut-punch of Hole's candy-coated "Hit So Hard."...

'In the Shadow of the Moon' Squanders Genre-Bending Potential Directed by Jim Mickle

Published Sep 26, 2019

Netflix's latest feature tells the story of a detective's obsession with a killer, but it could've been more.   Shot in Ontario, In the Sh...