the @popcollin reviews

Director Denis Villeneuve may just be the best world-builder in the business today, and he proves it by following up 2021’s phenomenal entry with this epic sequel. Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya lead the way (alongside Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, and franchise newcomer Austin Butler) in an absolute triumph that goes […]

As harrowing as it is thought-provoking, this British (though German-language) film by director Jonathan Glazer may demonstrate the banality of evil more than any film in history. On one level, it’s a presentation of the mundane day-to-day life of SS officer Rudolf Hess (Christian Friedel) and his family in the […]

This fascinating documentary about musician Jon Batiste’s journey to compose his ‘American Symphony’ is not only a study of musical genius and creativity but also compassion, as Batiste and his wife Suleika are, at the same time, also coping with her ongoing leukemia treatment. Equal parts engrossing and heartbreaking, the […]

Paul Giamatti re-teams with ‘Sideways’ director Alexander Payne for this wonderful 1970-set film that takes place at a New England boarding school. Giamatti is the outcast Professor Hunham, made to stay behind over Christmas break with any students who must remain on campus. What follows is a charming and absolutely […]

This mesmerizing courtroom drama about a German woman (Sandra Hüller) accused of murdering her French husband at their isolated chalet won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and will certainly be in the conversation for several Oscar nominations. Half in French and half in English, it’s a twisty and mind-bendy drama […]

The father of the atomic bomb gets the Christopher Nolan treatment in this fascinating, in-depth film set against the backdrop of the scientist’s 1954 national security clearance hearing. Cillian Murphy is outstanding in the lead role, and the incredible supporting cast—including Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh […]

This brilliant and oh-so-moving American-Korean film is an instant candidate for best of the year. Spanning decades, it’s the story of two Koreans (Greta Lee and Teo Yoo) who are best friends as kids but who grow apart, only to reconnect years later when she’s married. The childhood sweethearts spend […]

He still occasionally has a hard time writing dialogue that doesn’t sound like how adults think tweens speak, but damn, James Cameron can spin a yarn and, more importantly, create a true motion picture experience. An epic wonder of visual effects, this ambitious follow-up to the 2009 original brings us […]

Chronicling the birth of the ‘Me Too’ movement and the simultaneous downfall of Harvey Weinstein, this fact-based drama stars Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan as the ‘New York Times’ reporters who brought everything to light. Very much in the vein of ‘Spotlight’ and ‘All the President’s Men’, it’s an absolutely […]

Perhaps the most horrific and (presumably) realistic war movie ever made, this German feature from director and co-writer Edward Berger (adapted from Remarque’s classic novel) will shake you to your core and leave you feeling dead on the battlefield. As intense and graphic as ‘Saving Private Ryan’ was for its […]