Cinema Siren

Olivia Wilde is proving to be the blueprint for successfully segueing from acting into directing with the buzzy new coming-of-age comedy Booksmart, releasing wide this weekend through patron saint indie studio to female filmmakers, Annapurna. If any film should bring the indie studio solidly into the black, this hilarious, heartfelt celebration of feminist teenage badassery …

Yes, lots of people will be rushing to John Wick 3 this weekend. Some, however, will be glad of alternate programming release All is True.  After all, it features Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, and Ian McKellen, and is directed by Branagh. That’s as much thespian power as John Wick has firepower! The film, though deeply …

Tell it to the Bees, an independent British drama released in 2018, is finally having its release in American art house cinemas, though it reaches theaters in the UK in June. The film is adapted by director Annabel Jankel (co-creator of Max Headroom) from the novel of the same name by Fiona Shaw (the writer, not the …

In a world where we are so busy that Facebook has become a poor stand-in for quality time with those we are close to, the new gal pal comedy Wine Country pours itself into our cinema-loving lives like a light-bodied, approachable chardonnay after a bad day at work. A feature directorial debut for Amy Poehler, …

The new documentary Knock Down the House is the sort of inspiring, invigorating film that will remind those in the existential funk created by all things Trump-related that there is hope. In this film, hope comes largely in the form of four working women, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin, all …