Justin Harrison

65 needed more meat on its dinosaur bones

Adam Driver’s a terrific action survivor, and there are some fun thrills, but poor construction and scriptwork drag this creature feature into the tarpits. NOW STREAMING: Unfortunately, we couldn't find any streaming offers for 65. Powered by If…

Creed III rivals Ryan Coogler’s Creed in quality

Michael B. Jordan makes a strong directorial debut with an intimate, thrilling tale of brotherhood gone bitter—and a stupendous action climax. NOW STREAMING: Unfortunately, we couldn't find any streaming offers for Creed III. Powered by Round three…

Cocaine Bear is a crack-up, thanks to its killer ensemble

Elizabeth Banks does fun work with the semi-historical drugged-out Ursus americanus but truly shines with the low-key crime dramedy side of the story. NOW STREAMING: Powered by First, some music to set the mood, with thanks to Paul Thomas Anderson.…

‘Cyberpunk 2077: You Have My Word’ is a solid, if abrupt Night City story

There are eight million stories in the Naked City, and this has been one of them. Bartosz Sztybor‘s Cyberpunk 2077 comics are decidedly lower-key affairs than their (critically flawed, but at times magnificent) parent game or the terrific, harrowing…

Marlowe aims big but ends up sleepy

Neil Jordan and Liam Neeson’s take on Raymond Chandler’s PI occasionally offers a lovely spark, but never enough that bidding it farewell is a sad affair. I love mysteries and crime stories. And it’s been a treat these past few years to have so many…

JUNG_E sends its late star off in melancholy science fiction style

Train to Busan‘s Yeon Sang-ho crafts a moving nearish-future dystopian actioner anchored by an excellent final performance from late actor Kang Soo-yeon. What would you do to know your parents? Not just as parents, but as people—even long after their…

Vesper thoughtfully traverses a moody post-apocalypse

Young star Raffiella Chapman acquits herself well as a teenage scientist and survivor in a world whose beauty moves in time with its viciousness. Vesper (Raffiella Chapman, His Dark Materials), a lone teenager clad head to toe in weatherbeaten…

‘Kamen Rider Zero-One’ #1 is a poor showcase for a cool character

Kamen Rider—Shotaro Ishinomori’s tale of a masked, often-motorcycling superhero’s battles against the malignant and power-hungry—has endured for 50 years for a reason. It’s a strong, simple, flexible premise. It’s served as the basis for kids’ shows…

The Fabelmans sees Steven Spielberg go introspective and incisive to stunning effect

The great director draws upon his life, and the lives of his late parents in a masterfully crafted and performed dramedy whose affection for its subjects is as clear-eyed as deep. A little over 24 hours after seeing it, there are two sequences in…

‘It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth’ wields formal mastery in the service of self-examination

There are pages in Zoe Thorogood (The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott, Rain)’s It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth that take my breath away. And while the general reason — Thorogood’s a stupendous cartoonist and her work with comics-as-a-form…

‘WildC.A.T.s’ # 1 takes Wildstorm’s premier team on an unexpectedly comic misadventure

At its best, Wildstorm was a tremendously flexible setting for superheroism. The Authority is the big fish, of course, the one whose influence (especially Bryan Hitch’s widescreen action) continues to echo through cape comics today. Sean Phillips and…

‘Follow Me Down: A Reckless Book’ sees Phillips, Phillips, and Brubaker reveal more of Ethan’s deepest self through romance

I’ve been lucky enough to review three of Sean Phillips, Jacob Phillips, and Ed Brubaker‘s previous four Reckless graphic novels. They’re my favorite comics currently being published. I’ve been lucky enough to write a lot about Sean Phillips and Ed…

Chloë Grace Moretz challenges the future in The Peripheral

Moretz leads a murderer’s row of talented performers in a solid (if frustratingly simplified) adaptation of science fiction master William Gibson’s 2014 novel. North Carolina, 2032. Flynne Fisher (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a skilled gamer. Pro gaming…

Fantastic Five: The best comics of the week of October 12, 2022

We’re back with another edition of Fantastic Five, where we give props to the very best comics of the week! This week saw an even split between the Big Two, as Marvel and DC each took two spots in the top five. Rounding out the list is a riveting…

‘Once & Future’ # 30 closes the series with a climactic, transformative conclusion

Fair warning: As this is Once & Future‘s finale, I’ll be digging into the series as a whole. Expect spoilers. There’s a moment in the back half of Once & Future‘s 30th and final issue that’s going to haunt me. With the unraveling of Britain and…

‘Sabretooth: The Adversary’ uses its title character to drag Krakoa’s secrets out by tooth and claw

Victor “Sabretooth” Creed is a horrific person. He’s a gleeful sadist, habitually manipulative and abusive, and egomaniacal. He’s well aware of this, and for the longest time, he reveled in his wretchedness. But, when he was condemned by the Quiet…

‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’: TRIGGER goes gloriously downbeat

‘Promare’ director Hiroyuki Imaishi’s ultraviolent action is colorful and kinetic, but it’s the quiet moments—lovely, sad, and otherwise, that make this Night City story sing. Mike Pondsmith, creator of the tabletop RPG Cyberpunk—which video game…

Confess Fletch, confess that Jon Hamm rocks an ok comic mystery

Adventureland director Greg Mottola goes for laughs and gets them, sometimes to the rest of the movie’s detriment. Jon Hamm is a darn good comic actor, and he’s a darn good comic actor with range. In Top Gun: Maverick for instance he played Naval…

Saloum Review: Vengeance haunts Senegalese horror thriller

In 84 tense minutes, writer/director Jean Luc Herbulot spins together lean, muscular character work and supernatural and social terrors to striking effect. 2003. Amidst the coup in Guinea-Bissau, sleazeball narcotics trafficker Felix (Renaud Farah)…

Meredith Gran talks Perfect Tides: Station to Station, game craft, and approaching nostalgia with care

Meredith Gran’s Perfect Tides: Station to Station‘s Kickstarter is in its last week and has passed 75% funding. The first Perfect Tides is one of 2022’s best video games, an insightful walk alongside a year in the life of creative, hurting,…