Published by Film at Lincoln Center

Michael Sragow

Deep Focus: The Call of the Wild

By Michael Sragow
February 21, 2020
A dog’s life: this flimsy adaptation of Jack London’s 1903 classic plays like any old mid-level, live-action Disney movie

Deep Focus: Downhill

By Michael Sragow
February 14, 2020
Love on the skids: Julia Louis-Dreyfus possesses the ideal toolkit for this comedy-drama remake of Ruben Östlund’s 2014 Force Majeure

Deep Focus: The Rhythm Section

By Michael Sragow
January 31, 2020
Zero sum: the Blake Lively/Jude Law espionage thriller induces a dreary, exhausting claustrophobia

Deep Focus: Color Out of Space and The Turning

By Michael Sragow
January 24, 2020
Facing fears: in two new updates of horror classics, the sublime becomes ridiculous, and the ridiculous becomes a trip

Deep Focus: Weathering with You

By Michael Sragow
January 17, 2020
Turbulent skies: Makoto Shinkai’s sixth feature-length cartoon oozes visual lyricism and primal yearning

Deep Focus: Like a Boss

By Michael Sragow
January 9, 2020
Make-up test: the Tiffany Haddish vehicle is the kind of would-be edgy movie that will never alienate any segment of its target audience

Deep Focus: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

By Michael Sragow
December 20, 2019
Lost in space: J.J. Abrams’s nonsensical film contains so many resurrections it’s a wonder the release wasn't pushed back to Easter

Deep Focus: Richard Jewell

By Michael Sragow
December 12, 2019
Man on fire: Paul Walter Hauser’s inspired performance keeps Clint Eastwood’s latest from becoming a screed

Deep Focus: Daniel Isn’t Real

By Michael Sragow
December 6, 2019
Jung at heart: Adam Egypt Mortimer’s febrile, erratic phantasmagoria, centers on a troubled young man and his evil “shadow” archetype

Deep Focus: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

By Michael Sragow
November 22, 2019
A man apart: a remarkable performance from Tom Hanks partially redeems Marielle Heller’s gimmicky film

Deep Focus: Honey Boy

By Michael Sragow
November 8, 2019
Daddy dearest: Alma Har’el’s debut fiction feature is a wonderful movie with a raw, brilliant script by star Shia LaBeouf

Deep Focus: The Kill Team

By Michael Sragow
October 25, 2019
Killing in the name of: in his gutsy first feature, Dan Krauss tells a tale of American war-making gone very wrong

Deep Focus: Gemini Man

By Michael Sragow
October 11, 2019
My own worst enemy: in Ang Lee’s sci-fi fiasco, Will Smith plays a glorified hit man staring down the barrel of a callow version of himself

Deep Focus: The King

By Michael Sragow
October 4, 2019
It’s not good to be the king: David Michôd’s revisionist take on Shakespeare turns Prince Hal into a wannabe pacifist who can’t live up to his own standards

Deep Focus: Downton Abbey

By Michael Sragow
September 20, 2019
Supremely snooty interlopers: the major motion picture recreates the sweet and savory, upstairs-downstairs charms of the beloved TV series

Deep Focus: The Goldfinch

By Michael Sragow
September 12, 2019
Shiny objects: caught in the pointless pointillism of abrupt time jumps, few performers here have the chance to sustain a flow of emotion

Deep Focus: Ready or Not

By Michael Sragow
August 23, 2019
Bored games: the clumsy horror comedy pitches its blood-and-guts flakiness too absurdly high

Deep Focus: Good Boys

By Michael Sragow
August 16, 2019
Youth in revolt: profanity and banality make for a joy-killing combination in Gene Stupnitsky’s sixth-grade, fourth-rate farce

Deep Focus: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

By Michael Sragow
August 9, 2019
Losing heads: the Guillermo del Toro–produced adaptation of the popular children's series recreates the visceral impact of the original, but tames its absurdity

Deep Focus: The Operative and Piranhas

By Michael Sragow
August 2, 2019
Adapting to the times: two intelligent though uninspired genre movies streamline events that play out more lucidly in their source books