Showing film results: From 26 to 36
For some people, life can feel like a rollercoaster. But for most of us who are fortunate to live in the relative peace and safety of the western world, life is more like one long straight road. There are occasional bumps, but for the most part we spend our lives headed straight towards a certain destination. To save ourselves from going mad, we try to turn off this road as often as possible as we seek variety, but our responsibilities inevitably force us to return to the highway. One of the things we fear most is monotony and the idea that every day will be exactly the same. It's why we punish people by sending them to prison.
Having won acclaim for his Oscar-nominated documentary Mind the Gap, director Bing Liu makes his narrative feature debut with an adaptation of Atticus Lish's 2014 novel Preparation for the Next Life. Scripted by the Pulitzer-winning playwright Martyna Majok, it's a story of cross-cultural romance. But though the star-crossed lovers here are from very different worlds, none of their cultural differences matter. They're simply two humans, and what threatens to destroy their relationship are their very human flaws.
With Aliens, his sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien, James Cameron decided to up the ante by pluralising the titular monsters. With Influencers, writer/director Kurtis David Harder's welcome sequel to his entertaining 2022 thriller Influencer, it's the victims rather than the villain who have been multiplied. When you have a villain as fiendish as the murderous identity thief CW (Cassandra Naud), one is all you need.
To say the work of the French filmmaking duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani is divisive is an understatement. Like Tarantino and Eli Roth, Cattet and Forzani are obsessed with 20th century Italian genre cinema, and weave their influences into their work. But while Tarantino is a natural storyteller, the French duo are truer to their Italian influences in displaying nary the slightest interest in spinning a comprehensible narrative.
Two decades after co-directing 2004's Take Out with Sean Baker, Shih-Ching Tsou has made her solo directorial debut with the Taipei-set family drama Left-Handed Girl. In the years since Take Out, Tsou has produced several of Baker's films, and Baker collaborates again here as co-writer and editor. Anyone familiar with Baker's filmography will recognise his influence here. Once again this is a film about working class strivers doing whatever they can to stay afloat; sex work rears its head; and like Tangerine, it was shot on an adapted iPhone.
For the past seven decades or so, Nazis and Russians have been western action cinema's two main go-to villains. With Sisu: Road to Revenge, aging Finnish tough guy Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) joins Indiana Jones in becoming the rare action hero that has battled both Nazis and Russians.
After the relatively mainstream horror hat trick of Gretel & Hansel, Longlegs and The Monkey, director Osgood Perkins has returned to the more challenging fare of his earlier work with Keeper. Shot in Canada while production on The Monkey was held up by the 2023 Hollywood strikes, Keeper was quickly devised as a way to keep Perkins busy. And, boy, does it show. It has the stank of all of those half-baked horror movies that were shot in filmmakers' homes during the pandemic lockdown. There's barely enough plot here to fill a 20 minute segment of a horror anthology, never mind a feature. It's a cobbled together collection of horror clichés that only holds our attention due to a committed performance by Tatiana Maslany.
Lucile Hadžihalilović's The Ice Tower is that classic tale of the kid who runs away to join the circus. The circus in this case is the film industry of 1970s France. That was an era when the gulf between adolescence and adulthood wasn't so pronounced, when adults didn't think it strange that they were working alongside kids. It reminds us of how Cameron Crowe became a rock critic while barely out of short pants, or how Spielberg wandered onto a Hollywood backlot and found himself directing Joan Crawford within months. But The Ice Tower is tonally a very different film than Almost Famous or The Fabelmans. This is a dark fable that reminds us there are predators waiting to exploit the dreams of the innocent.
"It's alive!" Well, barely. Guillermo del Toro's pointless adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is Robert Eggers' Nosferatu all over again, a sumptuous but redundant retelling of a tale told 200 times too many. The writer/director has been trying to get this film made for three decades, and anyone familiar with his career knows of del Toro's fondness for monsters. But aside from his trademark over the top violence, del Toro has brought nothing new to the table here. His Frankenstein is twice as long as James Whale's and over an hour longer than Terence Fisher's, but it lacks the depth of either of those classics.
Given its subject matter, you might expect writer/director James Vanderbilt's Nuremberg to be another awards bait snoozer, the sort of film schoolkids will be forced to sit through when their History teacher wants to catch up on correcting homework. But Vanderbilt is the screenwriter responsible for David Fincher's Zodiac, arguably the best movie based on real events to come out of Hollywood this century. By narrowing his focus on two men, Vanderbilt has crafted a riveting film that grounds a global spectacle in the brief relationship between these two figures.
(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- State Theatre New Jersey proudly presents The Sound Studio Series, an immersive musical experience that places concertgoers at the very heart of the performance. Held in STNJ's intimate Studio space, limited to just 80 attendees, The Sound Studio Series features a dynamic mix of both classical and rock performances. Each concert concludes with an exclusive post-show meet-and-greet with the artists, offering fans a rare opportunity to connect directly with the performers. Tickets for the series are $20-$30.
(HAMPTON, NJ) -- Hunterdon Hills Playhouse presents Some Enchanted Evening from April 7 through May 16, 2026. This is a celebration of songs that have become a part of our lives. We sing them in the shower and we sing them to entertain and amuse.
(PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- This spring, Arden Children's Theatre invites families into a hilariously twisted world where classic fairy tales don't go quite as expected in its next production of the 2025/26 season, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (The Stinky Cheese Man). Based on the beloved book by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, adapted by John Glore, the production brings the book's fractured fairy tales to life for kids and adults alike. Directed by Steve Pacek, the production runs on the Arden’s Arcadia stage with previews starting April 8, opening night on April 18, with performances running through May 31.
(NEWARK, NJ) -- Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will launch their Land Of Hope And Dreams American Tour across the country this spring, kicking off at Minneapolis' Target Center on March 31. The 20-date run will feature 19 arena shows, including several local shows in New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia.
(PITMAN, NJ) -- The Broadway Theatre of Pitman presents A Bronx Tale, The Musical, across three weekends from April 24 to May 17, 2026. Step into the vibrant streets of the 1960s Bronx in this gripping musical about a young man torn between the steady guidance of his hardworking father and the alluring power of a local mob boss.
After a long hiatus, the Central Jersey band Exit Eleven are back with a new single that they will celebrate the release of on May 8 at Asbury Park's fabled Stone Pony.
Terry Barber is an "Internationally acclaimed" vocalist who has graced stages such as The Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, The kennedy Center and more and his recent project called "Mercury" will now grace the stage of The Brook Arts Center, otherwise known as "The Brook," in Bound Brook, NJ on May 15 at 8 p.m. for a one night only engagement.
Lazlo, founder of BlowUpRadio.com (an online radio station based around New Jersey artists), shines a light on some of the many new releases from NJ based musicians each week with this column. This week Lazlo takes a look at new releases by Teen Idle, Rich Lancia, Somebody Club, Suede Aces, and Exit Eleven. Plus a look back at "Songs for the Moon" by The Porchistas.
Here is a look at shows taking place this week along with our featured listings and a look at some upcoming shows. New Jersey Stage offers previews of concerts throughout the Garden State as well as select shows in New York City and Philadelphia areas
