Archive | August, 2026

Jurassic Street?

12 Aug
Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway star in THE END OF OAK STREET

One of my favorite things about the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies is what happens when the dinosaurs get off Isla Nublar, or whatever island or nature preserve they’re living on, and onto the mainland.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park gave us the T. rex stomping through San Diego, turning the city into prehistoric chaos. Jurassic World Dominion sent raptors and other assorted dinosaurs into Malta, where the streets became the setting of a giant chase sequence with creatures that really, really wanted to eat Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard — or anyone else they could find.

Those sequences work because there’s something inherently cool about watching dinosaurs in the real world. Put a velociraptor in a jungle or a contained environment and, sure, that’s scary. Put one in someone’s backyard and suddenly all hell breaks loose in a more relatable way.

David Robert Mitchell’s new sci-fi thriller The End of Oak Street takes that idea and runs with it — or, more accurately, shuffles along behind it.

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It’s Technically Child Labor, but We Signed Up for It

10 Aug
COOKIE QUEENS

There are few things more quintessentially American than Girl Scout Cookies.

Every winter, like clockwork, troops of girls appear outside supermarkets, in shopping malls, and on front porches, selling Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils, and Do-si-dos. For the girls, it’s not just about cookies; it’s a chance to learn a little something about business, perseverance, and themselves.

Cookie Queens, the charming new documentary directed by Alysa Nahmias, takes that annual ritual and turns it into a surprisingly engaging story. The film follows four determined young Girl Scouts as they set their cookie-selling goals and discover that reaching them can be about much more than simply moving boxes.

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Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

5 Aug
Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner star in ONE NIGHT ONLY

The new film One Night Only asks its audience to have a willing sense of disbelief, and there is perhaps nothing in it that’s more far-fetched than this: It wants us to believe that Callum Turner (Eternity) and Monica Barbaro (Top Gun: Maverick) can’t find anyone to sleep with — and on the horniest night of the year, yet. 

If those two are striking out, then what hope is there for the rest of us?

The film imagines an alternate version of America where the right-wing government has outlawed premarital sex. Except, that is, for one 12-hour window — a glorious, state-sanctioned night every year when the country’s singles can finally let loose. Picture The Purge, but instead of everyone running around with assault rifles and other weapons looking to commit no-consequence crimes, they’re desperately hunting for condoms so they can get laid. It’s a ridiculous premise, and thankfully, the movie knows it. 

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Well Done

4 Aug
Antonio Banderas and Dominic Sessa star in TONY

If you’ve ever wondered what Anthony Bourdain was like before he became, well, Anthony Bourdain, then Tony is the movie for you. 

Long before CNN and his globe-trotting culinary fame, Bourdain was simply Tony, “a spoiled, miserable, narcissistic, self-destructive, and thoughtless young lout” who was “badly in need of a good ass-kicking.” Don’t take my word for it; that’s literally how Bourdain describes himself in his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential. 

In other words, this new film co-written and directed by Matt Johnson (BlackBerry) could almost be called “Portrait of the Chef as a Young Prick,” if A24 really wanted to take a risk.

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