Bilge Ebiri

The brutal murder of Janet Leigh’s character — the nominal lead in Psycho — is covered in exquisite detail in 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene

78/52 Hacks Thrillingly Into Psycho’s Most Infamous Murder

The numbers in the title of 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene refer to the number of setups and shots that were required to create the shocking cinematic savagery that occurs less than an hour into the director’s 1960 masterpiece, Psycho. You know the scene: It killed off star Janet Leigh’s character......
In Walking Out

Walking Out Is a Beautiful Film About What Can Go Wrong

“This year we hunt big game. This year you get your first kill.” So says seasoned hunter Cal (Matt Bomer) to his teenage son David (Josh Wiggins), who’s arrived in rural Montana for his annual visit, and even those going in unfamiliar with the premise of Alex and Andrew Smith’s......
Una (Rooney Mara

Rooney Mara Confronts a Predator From the Past in the Troubling Una

The labyrinthine nature of memory, trauma and guilt is made concrete in Benedict Andrews' Una, a film that intermittently sends its characters wandering around what looks like an actual maze. In the title role, Rooney Mara puts her perpetually haunted gaze to good use as a melancholy woman whiling away......
Taron Egerton returns in Kingsman: The Golden Circle as Eggsy

The Giddily Nasty Kingsman Franchise Plays It Safe in the Sequel

The sequel to 2015’s hit Kingsman: The Secret Service won’t make you feel the urgent need to take a shower and/or throw up, like the original probably did. Believe it or not, that’s not always a good thing. Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Matthew Vaughn’s follow-up to his brutal, joyfully degenerate......