‘White Noise’: Film Review

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticRare is the movie about writer’s block that doesn’t end with the frustrated author scrapping his dead-end drafts in order to “write what you know” — i.e. the film we’ve just sat through.

It's a toss-up as to which substance flows more freely in Scott Wiper's Appalachian-set thriller — alcohol or testosterone. There's plenty of the latter on display, to be sure, thanks to the presence of such supremely macho actors as Vinnie Jones, Ron Perlman and Malcolm McDowell and the sort of hard-boiled dialogue that mainly smacks of a writer's overheated imagination.

Self-help tropes are the not-so-secret sauce in Andy Tennant's feel-good romantic drama co-starring Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas. Inspired by The Secret, Rhonda Byrnes' 2006 mega-selling testimonial about the life-changing effect of positive thinking, The Secret: Dare to Dream dilutes a perfectly serviceable love story with awkward doses of pseudo-philosophy.

Guy Lodge Film CriticOver a staggered series of pandemic-delayed release dates, “Unhinged” has been consistently hyped as the film that will bring the dormant theatrical scene back to life — the one that, as other major releases have either postponed themselves into the distant whenever or bit the bullet and premiered online, has stuck to its guns as a summer big-screen experience.

rebuilding after the devastating wildfire that destroyed most of the Northern California town of Paradise feels almost impossible for that city’s residents – and, in fact, the sequences that give the movie its power often as not deal with the losses that can never really be rebuilt or fixed.And while the film reaches for and finds moments of healing and rejuvenation, it’s easier to walk away from it feeling anger at the causes of the devastation than hopefulness for a community that is still

Courtney Howard authorArriving more than a decade too late in both its inspirational and foundational appeal, “The Secret: Dare to Dream,” a fictionalized adaptation of author Rhonda Byrne’s popular self-help book “The Secret,” traipses through familiar territory without enhancing anyone’s insight.

Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticWho would have thought a romantic comedy on the pain of being different could become such ironic and timely viewing in a global pandemic? In “I Weirdo,” a kooky and innovative debut by Taiwanese writer-director Liao Ming-yi, a couple with OCD trying to fit in to so-called “normal” society now looks like social-distancing heroes in our Covid-hit, locked-down lives. Shot and edited by Liao using the iPhone XS Max, the production looks no less vibrant for it.

Richard Kuipers “A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad’s an Alcoholic” casts a damning eye on the pernicious role alcohol plays in the working careers and social lives of Japanese men. Narrated by the innermost thoughts of a daughter during the 25 years she spends watching her father drink himself to death, Kenji Katagari’s second feature cleverly plays like a quirky little TV sitcom about an ordinary middle-class family before moving into darker territory.

Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticImagine a Japanese version of “Pygmalion” in which the sculptor continues to caress slabs of marble even after Galatea has come to life. That is the unusual premise of “Romance Doll,” a marital drama in which a sex doll maker’s rapt obssession with his new prototype, leads to rejection of his human muse.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticA cigar is never just a cigar where Sigmund Freud is concerned.

Lisa Kennedy Four Vietnam vets reunite for a mission, one that will lean on their wartime exploits but also expose more than a few old tensions.

Dennis Harvey Film CriticSnarled loops of time travel have proved a surprisingly versatile and rewarding fantasy-cinema trope in recent years, from the big-budget likes of “Edge of Tomorrow” to such enterprising indies as “Predestination,” not to mention comedies (“Palm Springs”), horror (“Happy Death Day”), romance (“Before I Fall”) and more.

For a debut feature, writer-director Charlène Favier’s powerful coming-of-age sports drama Slalom couldn't come at a more timely moment.

truth and beauty, too, it’s safe to say that “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” finds a bit of both of those things.Also Read: 'Palm Springs' Film Review: Andy Samberg Puts an Indie Rom-Com Spin on 'Groundhog Day'The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, went to the Berlin and True/False Film Festivals and had a series of virtual screenings on July 8 to celebrate National Dive Bar Day, with a virtual rollout scheduled for July 10.

Guy Lodge Film CriticIn “Archive,” an isolated scientist methodically pursues an artificial-intelligence ideal, developing a sequence of human-android beings and recycling their various parts until the ultimate prototype is achieved.

"They say that when you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes. I wish it were that simple," says James, the main character, in his voiceover narration at the beginning of Volition.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticWhen you look at the face of Danny Trejo, you see the creases and hollows and pockmarks, the eye pouches like saddlebags, the badges of a life so well-worn that, at first, that’s just about all you see. Yet the more you look, the more you notice a paradox.

Dennis Harvey Film CriticBeing released during an epidemic lends additional if unintended frisson to “The Beach House,” a cryptic yet reasonably involving thriller in which vacationers find themselves under threat. The nature of that threat remains ambiguous, but in its partially-airborne inescapability, it definitely hits a note of creepy relevance.

Jessica Kiang In 2013, Daniel Rye, a Danish photographer in his mid-twenties, went to Syria to document the plight of civilian refugees and was kidnapped by ISIS. Ransomed and held captive for 13 months, Rye was psychologically and physically tortured, starved and beaten by his captors, first on his own and then alongside several other international hostages, among them U.S.

Also Read: Andy Samberg Loved 'Palm Springs' Script Because It Was 'A Little More F- Up' Than Traditional Rom-Coms (Video)We meet Samberg’s character, Nyles, when he wakes up on the morning of the wedding and halfheartedly ogles the leg of his girlfriend, Misty (Meredith Hagner).