Cleveland Movies, Film & TV | Cleveland Scene

Movie Reviews & Stories

Annual Short. Sweet. Film Fest. To Screen Nearly 300 Short Films

Festival returns to Atlas Cinemas Shaker Square on February 28

By Jeff Niesel

Feb 15, 2024

Last year, organizer Mike Suglio took his annual Short. Sweet...

A scene from Anne Hu's Lunchbox.

Movie Reviews & Stories

Review: 'American Symphony' Captures Acclaimed Composer Jon Batiste Grappling With His Wife’s Cancer

The documentary was meant to be a road movie tracking Batiste’s cross-country trip in search of musicians and sounds. His wife’s resurgent illness changed the film

By Chuck Wilson
Nov 30, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

Joaquin Phoenix and Ridley Scott Turn 'Napoleon' Into a Violent Epic Starring a Petty Brat

Scott goes all-in on the battle scenes and Phoenix plays the emperor like a Comic-Con king

By Craig D. Lindsey
Nov 27, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

In May December, Todd Haynes Turns an Old Tabloid Tale Into a First-Rate Sexual Thriller

The film offers the kind of outrageously brash take on sexual promiscuity more often found in a Lifetime movie

By Kayla McCulloch
Nov 16, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

The Very Things the Fanboys Hate About The Marvels Makes This Female-Led Flick Worth Seeing

The film exhibits a fun, frisky likability not encountered in an MCU movie since Spider-Man: Homecoming

By Craig D. Lindsey
Nov 10, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

In The Holdovers, Alexander Payne Reunites With Paul Giamatti for a Terrific Take on a Trio of Misfits

Set in 1970, the film consciously emulates the best of that decade's cinema

By Cliff Froehlich
Nov 9, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

Priscilla Memorably Recreates the World of the Teen Who Fell for Elvis — and Then Fled Her Gilded Cage

Sofia Coppola's film focuses on the journey of an independently-minded woman who grows up while the star doesn't

By Chuck Wilson
Oct 31, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

Comedy Writer Steve Young Talks About His Love for Industrial Musicals

On November 9, he brings his live show to the Cinematheque

By Jeff Niesel
Oct 26, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

In Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorcese Delivers a Triumphant Western That Privileges the Native American Perspective

A trip through a dark chapter of America, where white “suitors” plotted to marry and then kill Osage women to gain oil headrights

By Cliff Froehlich
Oct 19, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Movie Knows Its Audience All Too Well

It’s all Taylor’s version — and it gives them just what they want

By Eileen G’Sell
Oct 16, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

The Exorcist: Believer Tries to Match the Horror of the Original — But Even Ellen Burstyn Isn’t Enough

Believer is ultimately more quaint and hopeful than blood-curdling and scream-inducing

By Craig D. Lindsey
Oct 5, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

Chloe Domont’s Film Fair Play Depicts a Hedge Fund Girlboss and Her Disaffected Fiancé With Uneven Results

The film opens in theaters September 29 and streams on Netflix October 6

By Kayla McCulloch
Sep 28, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

More Than 50 Filmmakers To Attend Upcoming Chagrin Documentary Film Festival

Festival kicks off with a special reception on Tuesday, Oct. 3

By Jeff Niesel
Sep 25, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

The Newly Restored Talking Heads Concert Doc Stop Making Sense Is as Exuberant and Wonderful as Ever

Critic Pauline Kael once called it “a continuous rock experience that keeps building, becoming ever more intense and euphoric.”

By Craig D. Lindsey
Sep 21, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

Review: In A Haunting in Venice, Kenneth Branagh Takes a Liberal Hand With Agatha Christie's Work

Poirot must both ferret out the killer and grapple with increasing self-doubt about his rationalist worldview

By Cliff Froehlich
Sep 14, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

Review: The 'Big Fat Greek Wedding' Cast Reunites for a Third-Rate Adventure

One common theme permeates these nostalgic sequels to reverent reboots: They only offer mere morsels of what made the originals so worthwhile.

By Kayla McCulloch
Sep 10, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

Zany and Fearless, Bottoms Takes on High School From a Raunchy Lesbian Point of View

Not Just Another Teen Movie

By Craig D. Lindsey
Aug 31, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

In Between Two Worlds, a French Journalist Goes Undercover to Explore the Lives of the French Working-Class

But the story is all about her

By Andrew Wyatt
Aug 24, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

National Cinema Day Returns for Second Year With $4 Tickets, Snack Deals

The event is back on Sunday, Aug. 27.

By Brandon Rodriguez
Aug 22, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

Gran Turismo Tells the Thrilling (True!) Story of a Video Gamer Who Became a Race Car Sensation

Right on track

By Craig D. Lindsey
Aug 18, 2023
Movie Reviews & Stories

Landscape With Invisible Hand Envisions Alien Invasion as a Corporate Takeover

An ambitious, unpredictable, funny and flawed film worth seeing

By Cliff Froehlich
Aug 15, 2023