Are academic symposia supposed to be fun? I covered one that was, where scholars examined the many ways "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" are affecting culture in Utah and beyond. www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

The one big studio movie this week is "You, Me & Tuscany," a rom-com notable for its two gorgeous stars — Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page — and all the beautifully shot Italian scenery and food. The plot's silly, but nobody will care. 1/5 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/4/...

For Easter weekend, "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" is likely to dominate the box office. It brings back Nintendo's heroes on a quest to free the princess Rosalina from Bowser Jr. The humor is plentiful, as are the colorful animation and fan service. 1/4 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/3/...

A light week at the movies, caught between "Project Hail Mary" and the Easter weekend. The one studio movie is "They Will Kill You," a horror-thriller comedy with Zazie Beetz as a woman amok in a satanic hotel. Fun for a while, but loses steam. 1/3 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/3/...

Finally, after weeks of hype, "Project Hail Mary" is here. It's gloriously old-school science-fiction, with smart-sounding dialogue, tactile special effects (look, Ma, no CG!) and the endless charm of Ryan Gosling as a scientist trying to save the planet. 1/4 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/3/...

I listened to @blankcheck.bsky.social today, and Griffin Newman suggested Conan O'Brien open the Oscars with a skit involving Aunt Gladys from "Weapons." And, sure enough, we got something quite similar to that. Either Griffin is psychic, or he dropped his idea into the right ear.

A week ago, we lost one of us in a tragic and senseless event. Natalie Graves was a long time supporter with Rogue Cavaliers Brigade in section 9. Her loss is felt throughout the Riot and all of the stadium.

Have you read enough predictions for Sunday's Academy Award winners? No, you haven't, because you haven't read mine yet. moviecricket.net/other-writin...

The likely box-office champ on #Oscars weekend is "Reminders of You," an implausible romantic weepie about an ex-con (Maika Monroe) coming home to try to connect with the 5-year-old daughter she's never met. OK if you like pretty people kissing. 1/5 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/3/...

If there's a song from the Woodstock era that is ripe for a comeback, “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” is it. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/a...

Pixar's back in form with "Hoppers," a funny and heartwarming story of an animal lover (voiced by Piper Curda) who gets her brain put into a robot beaver to communicate with animals. Great jokes, and a nice message about looking out for other critters. 1/4 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/3/...

The big new movie this week is "Scream 7," which brings Neve Campbell back to the meta-horror franchise that made her a star 30 years ago. She's the only good thing in this one, which is a bigger nostalgia cash grab than most legacy sequels. 1/3 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/2/...

Robert Cosby Jr., the son of "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star Mary Cosby, has died at 23. His candid struggles with substance misuse were highlighted on the Utah reality show.

I took a week off from the movie game. My one review is for "Pillion," a drama with Alexander Skarsgård as a motorcycle club leader training a new submissive (Harry Melling). It's got a narrow audience, but that group may find it surprisingly romantic. 1/2 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/2/...

Frederick Wiseman changed the way we see the world.

From the classrooms of High School to the corridors of Hospital, he turned his camera on the institutions that shape us — inviting us to look closer, sit longer & confront truth with empathy. 

May his memory be a blessing.

Tom Noonan was a nice guy who played a lot of bad people, in "Manhunter," "Heat" and "Last Action Hero." I met him at Sundance in 1994, when he directed a movie adaptation of his two-person play, "What Happened Was…", which won the Grand Jury Prize. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

The likely box office champ this weekend is "Goat," a vivid and fast-moving animated sports tale – about a goat who wants to play Roarball, a game usually reserved for the bigger animals. It's a lot of fun, even if you've seen this story before. 1/4 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/2/...

Go Hawks! #Seahawks

A slow week for me, post-Sundance. The only movie opening this week that I reviewed is "The Moment," a mock-documentary in which Charli XCX takes a satirical hatchet to the machinery trying to keep her "brat" phenomenon alive. Smart, acidic and funny. 1/2 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/2/...

Of course I had some final thoughts about the Sundance Film Festival's leaving Utah. www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

I'm in The Ray, waiting for the awards ceremony for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival — the last Sundance awards to be given out in Utah. (I'll be happy when I can stop saying that.) Follow along with me here. #Sundance2026Awards

Sometimes finding "the one" at #Sundance — the movie that makes you love it with your whole heart — takes a minute. I found it, finally, in "Carousel," a tender romantic drama that stars Chris Pine and Jenny Slate, doing the best work in their careers. moviecricket.net/sundance-202...

Passion Flour, a beloved vegan bakery in Salt Lake City, is closing after more than 10 years in business, but it’s not goodbye forever: The owner said she plans to ship her plant-based baked goods nationwide — eventually.

When Robert Redford died in September, his family didn't have a public memorial service. So Friday night's tribute Redford's vision, in a fundraiser for his Sundance Institute, was the closest thing we've had to a wake. #Sundance2026 www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

I'm at the Sundance Film Festival, so I didn't get a chance to see much of this week's new movies. I recommend reading my stories at The Salt Lake Tribune, like this account of the premiere of "The Lake," a moving documentary about the Great Salt Lake. 1/3 www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

Interesting to note that "Wicked: For Good" got skunked. No Ariana, no songs, no visual effects. The makers of that movie will just have to console themselves with their bags of money. #AcademyAwards

The only time I cheered was when they read Kate Hudson's name. #AcademyAwards

I had maintained hopes for an original screenplay nomination for Eva Victor for "Sorry, Baby." It was a long shot, I knew. Oh, well. #AcademyAwards

Here, in one handy article, are the movies and performances the Utah Film Critics Association named as the best of 2025. #UtahFilmCritics2025 www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

I'm at the Utah Film Critics Association's annual meeting, to decide what end-of-year awards we'll give out to the great movies and performances of 2025. Follow along as we vote. #UtahFilmCritics2025

Question: What are your favorite memories of the Sundance Film Festival in Utah? Tell us your stories, so we can share them as the festival completes its final Park City/Salt Lake City run this month. www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

In "28 Days Later: The Bone Temple," director Nia DaCosta continues the zombie franchise about fast zombies. The action is split, between young Alfie's falling in with a cult leader (Jack O'Connell) and a doctor (Ralph Fiennes) who may have a cure. 1/3 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/1/...

"Is This Thing On?" is a sweetly rough dramedy about a guy (Will Arnett) who starts performing stand-up at open mic nights to process his divorce to Laura Dern. Bradley Cooper directs, but it's the chemistry between Arnett and Dern that's satisfying. 1/4 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/1/...

We're through another season of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City." Here's what the cast members have been doing since filming stopped back in May. #RHOSLC www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

The Utah-to-Broadway pipeline just hit overload: A new video features cabaret singer (and "Real Housewives" co-star) Britani Bateman and Utah's own Will Swenson duetting on "Shallow" — with Swenson's wife, Broadway icon Audra McDonald, in the audience. www.instagram.com/p/DTBEo4liQPa/

It's been decades since director Park Chan-Wook ("Oldboy") and actor Lee Byung-hun ("Squid Game") have worked together. Their new film, "No Other Choice," is a deliciously dark comedy about a laid-off manager who takes desperate steps to get a new job. 1/3 moviecricket.net/blog/2026/1/...

If there's a theme threading through the best movies of 2025, it's in how they showed us ways to cope with various kinds of trauma — personal, political and historical. Here's my list of the top 10 movies of 2025. www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

Bill announces in here (spoiler!) that he is joining my paper, The Salt Lake Tribune, for a few months. I’m looking forward to meeting him, and welcoming him to our pretty, great state.

Is "Avatar: Fire and Ash" great? It's sweeping and gorgeous, like the other installments of James Cameron's sci-fi epic. The best new element is Oona Chaplin's performance as a new Na'vi villain, Varang, as the storyline eases away from the humans. 1/7 moviecricket.net/blog/2025/12...

Director Paul Feig's "The Housemaid" is a good trashy thriller, with Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried paired well as a newly hired live-in maid and her demanding, possibly psycho, boss. moviecricket.net/blog/2025/12...

If we're getting a third "Avatar" movie, does that mean "Saturday Night Live" is going to give us a third "Papyrus" short? I have an idea for a storyline: Someone decides Papyrus is a "woke" typeface, and Ryan Gosling's character finds himself having to defend the use of Papyrus.

James Cameron knows how to deliver the spectacle, which makes "Avatar: Fire and Ash" very cool to look at. The plot and dialogue are not so hot. The deciding factor for me is Oona Chaplin's villain, who brings a new menace to Pandora. moviecricket.net/blog/2025/12...

Today, Sundance Institute announced the 54 short films that will screen at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Among the shorts: A world premiere of "Paper Trail," the latest by animator Don Hertzfeldt. (For animation fans, this is a big deal.) www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

Rob Reiner's first seven movies as director: This Is Spinal Tap (1984) The Sure Thing (1985) Stand by Me (1986) The Princess Bride (1987) When Harry Met Sally… (1989) Misery (1990) A Few Good Men (1992) One of the best filmmakers, and human beings, ever to work in Hollywood.

One of my first Sundance screening memories was seeing Lodge Kerrigan's "Clean, Shaven" at the Egyptian in 1993, with Peter Greene as a man with schizophrenia. His fearless performance has stayed in my head for more than 30 years. #RIP deadline.com/2025/12/pete...

I wanted to like "Ella McCay," writer-director James L. Brooks' comedy about an idealistic politician (Emma Mackey) caught up in family strife and backroom pressures. Unfortunately, it's too crowded with characters for any one or two to make a splash. 1/3 moviecricket.net/blog/2025/12...

Want to do some celebrity spotting at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival? Here's a starter guide, a list of the famous faces who will be onscreen — and could be in Park City and Salt Lake City in person. (Spoiler: Expect to see a lot of Charli xcx.) www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

We're weeks away from the last Sundance Film Festival to be held in Utah. What's going to play there? We have the list of the 90 feature films selected. www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

Christmas lights over my desk. With an odd assortment of ornaments.

"Hamnet" is a beautiful movie, a meditation on grief transforming into art, using the story of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife, Agnes, or Anne, Hathaway (Jessie Buckley). Buckley's performance will have you sobbing, particuarly in the final scene. 1/4 moviecricket.net/blog/2025/12...