the @popcollin reviews

In what may be one of the most brutally honest and visceral (and yet resoundingly inspirational) celebrity documentaries ever, we’re taken inside every facet of the struggling singer’s life as she lives each day battling stiff person syndrome. Acclaimed director Irene Taylor (and credit to Dion for providing the all-areas […]

One of the most original and well-directed true crime documentaries in years, the story of the murder of four young Burger Chef workers in 1978 Indiana plays out like a feature film, punctuated by traces of Errol Morris’ equally captivating ‘The Thin Blue Line’ tossed in for good measure. Still […]

Native American filmmaker Erica Tremblay, making her feature debut, taps into the heart and soul of life on the reservation for this film about the search for answers when a Seneca-Cayuga woman mysteriously disappears. Lily Gladstone, fresh off her Oscar nom for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, may just one-up […]

Daisy Ridley stars as Trudy Ederle in this powerfully heartwarming, stand-up-and-cheer film about the first woman to swim the English Channel, back in 1926. Director Joachim Rønning (‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’) deftly straddles the line between traditional biopic and celebration of female empowerment, letting Ridley […]

The origin story of Charlize Theron’s character from 2015’s outstanding ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, this gonzo epic of murder and mayhem is a mesmerizing, full-throttle achievement from writer/director George Miller (who, incidentally, just turned 79). Anya Taylor-Joy leads the way as the young abductee taken by the desert warlord Dementus […]

The latest from the great writer-director Alex Garland (‘Ex Machina’, ‘Annihilation’) centers on a not-too-distant-future civil war in America, where successionist armies in California and Texas have banded together in an attempt to overthrow the government. Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, and Cailee Spaeny star as war journalists headed to D.C. […]

This wicked satire from first-time feature writer/director Cord Jefferson is a scathing and hilarious commentary on white America’s stereotype-fueled image of African Americans and also an absolute tour de force for Jeffrey Wright in his best performance to date. He stars as author ‘Monk’ Ellison, who, after years of earning […]

When’s the last time you saw a monster movie and actually cared about the characters – becoming fully invested in their lives and not content to just watch them get trampled underfoot by a 15-story creature? This sneaky little flick from Japan is as solid as they come. Though crafted […]

Bradley Cooper co-wrote, directed, and stars in this look at the life of the great composer Leonard Bernstein, particularly his relationship with wife Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan). While it does little to examine (or educate us about) Bernstein’s immeasurable cultural impact—‘West Side Story’, for example, is barely mentioned in passing—it […]

Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke star as a married couple taking the family on vacation to a rental on Long Island in the latest from director Sam Esmail (TV’s ‘Mr. Robot’), which takes a straightforward premise and turns it on its head to become a gripping apocalyptic film. Following a […]