Some horror films operate on a more subtle level, drawing on subconscious fears that all of us share without relying on obvious violence and gore. Films such as Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” Mike Flanagan’s “Doctor Sleep,” and Alain Resnais’ “Last Year at Marienbad” fall into this category of arthouse horror films, as they slowly...

Sion Sono is one of the most original and exciting filmmakers still working, creating such astonishing masterpieces as “Love Exposure,” “Why Don't You Play in Hell?,” and “Tokyo Tribe.” With “Prisoners of the Ghostland,” Sono has made his first primarily English language film, and the results are mixed to say the least. At first...

The Eyes of Tammy Faye Based on a 2000 documentary by the same name, Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick”) attempts to bring to the limelight the life of Tammy Faye Bakker in his latest film, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” Yes, there’s comedy. Even more so, there is drama. As a young girl (Chandler Head), Tammy...

Blue Bayou Too often, the news whitewashes the status of or the role that immigrants play in this country. They are a vital population, not necessarily looking for handouts, but to escape situations in their home countries that they have no control over, but affect them immensely. Such is the case with Justin Chon’s “Blue Bayou,”...

Cry Macho Let’s set aside the fact that Clint Eastwood is 91 this year for the moment. “Cry Macho,” which hits theaters and HBO Max today, was not Eastwood’s first rodeo with this material. The script for “Cry Macho” goes all the back to the early ’70s when the screenplay, then known as “Macho,” was rejected...