A.A. Dowd
Writer
A.A. Dowd, or Alex to his friends, is a writer and editor based in Chicago. He has held staff positions at The A.V. Club and Time Out Chicago, and is a member of the National Society of Film Critics.
Talk to Me review: scary party-game horror from A24
The Aussie horror movie Talk to Me has a great premise, but a disappointing second half blunts its scares.
Why is it so hard to make a hit Terminator movie again?
Every Terminator sequel since T2 has been a commercial dud. With the advancement of special effects and the rise of AI, why can't the Terminator series succeed?
Oppenheimer review: Christopher Nolan’s staggering atomic opus
Christopher Nolan returns with a towering, troubling 70mm biopic about the Father of the Atomic Bomb, Oppenheimer.
Does Jurassic Park reveal a guilty confession from Steven Spielberg?
The 1993 sci-fi film Jurassic Park works as both an entertaining blockbuster and a revealing confession about the damage Steven Spielberg did to modern movies.
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One review: Accept this mission
Tom Cruise returns once more as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One, the latest entry in Hollywood's most reliably entertaining franchise.
Indiana Jones and the perils of sequelizing Steven Spielberg
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the latest example of how hard it is to make a sequel to a Steven Spielberg movie.
Irrational horror: How Skinamarink, The Outwaters, and Enys Men remystify the genre
Skinamarink, The Outwaters, and Enys Men bring some welcome irrationality back to a horror genre that is too obsessed with blunt metaphors about past trauma.
The decade of the dead: How 28 Days Later, World War Z, and zombies took over pop culture
Released 10 years apart, 28 Days Later and World War Z offered similar prophetic visions of global outbreak that make them more resonant in a post-COVID world.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts review: This prequel needs more Bayhem
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a prequel that streamlines the Michael Bay style into anonymous spectacle.
Smile review: A cruelly scary studio horror movie
There are traces of It Follows and The Ring in Parker Finn's diabolically effective horror movie Smile.
James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar returns to theaters, but has its magic faded?
James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar returns to theaters13 years after it broke records. Will audiences still care?
Don’t Worry Darling review: through the suburban looking glass
Despite the chaos of its press tour, Olivia Wilde's suburban Twilight Zone fantasy Don't Worry Darling starring Harry Styles is controlled to a fault.
The best films of TIFF 2022
From a surgical documentary to a Korean thriller to the triumphant return of Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc, these were our favorites films of TIFF '22.
The slasher Sick is a highlight of TIFF’s Midnight Madness
This year's Midnight Madness program at TIFF includes a slick slasher, a prequel to a horror hit, and another V/H/S/ anthology of horror.
Zac Efron goes to Vietnam in the shallow comedy The Greatest Beer Run Ever
In his follow-up to the Oscar-winning Green Book, director Peter Farrelly makes another bid for middlebrow prestige with The Greatest Beer Run Ever.
The Whale review: Brendan Fraser can’t save this histrionic drama
Brendan Fraser's sensitive performance is the chief highlight of Darren Aronofsky's limp drama The Whale.
The Fabelmans review: an origin story of Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg plunges into his own childhood with the twinkly-tragic memoir The Fabelmans.
Glass Onion review: a deviously intricate Knives Out sequel
Rian Johnson reteams with Daniel Craig for the delightfully complicated Knives Out sequel Glass Onion.
The documentary De Humani Corporis Fabrica is an astonishing dive into the human body
The experimental documentary De Humani Corporis Fabrica, now showing at this year's TIFF, takes a gross, beautiful plunge into the human body.
Down to clown? The biopic spoof Weird is a glorified Funny or Die sketch
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is Al Yankovich in the dopey fictional biopic Weird, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Toronto film fest 2022 opens with a blandly inspirational Netflix biopic
Day one of the Toronto International Film Festival offered a blandly directed Netflix biopic, as well as an incisive Romanian drama.
Speak No Evil review: the horror of holding your tongue
A Dutch vacation becomes a sinister social nightmare in the unsettling Shudder-bound thriller Speak No Evil.
Event Horizon, Mimic, and the glory of the lowly late-August thriller
Released 25 years ago, Event Horizon and Mimic are Alien-indebted reminders that late August doesn't have to be a dumping ground.
Three Thousand Years of Longing review: George Miller takes a left turn off Fury Road
George Miller veers off Fury Road for the eccentric, romantic fable Three Thousand Years of Longing, starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton.
Three Minutes: A Lengthening review: Haunting documentary about the Holocaust
Built around the only footage of a Polish town destroyed by the Nazis, Three Minutes: A Lengthening is at once a memorial, detective story, and gripping essay.
Emily the Criminal review: Aubrey Plaza scores as a gig-economy hustler
Aubrey Plaza is grippingly driven in the late-stage capitalism crime thriller Emily the Criminal.
I Love My Dad review: Patton Oswalt in a catfish cringe comedy
Patton Oswalt plays a father who catfishes his son in the uncomfortable cringe comedy I Love My Dad.
Bullet Train review: Brad Pitt shines in a jokey, stylish action film
Brad Pitt leads a star-powered cast of ruthless assassins in the jokey, stylish action blockbuster Bullet Train.
Unfriended is the quintessential movie about the internet age
The 2015 laptop thriller Unfriended is not just an ingenious horror movie but also an essential portrait of the 21st century.
The Gray Man review: Ryan Gosling battles Chris Evans in a rote action movie
Ryan Gosling takes on Chris Evans in The Gray Man, a depressingly algorithmic Netflix action movie from the Russo brothers.
Both Sides of the Blade review: Juliette Binoche shines in cutting domestic drama
The brilliant French filmmaker Claire Denis returns with the disorienting love triangle Both Sides of the Blade, starring Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon.
Thor: Love and Thunder review: Marvel’s latest is no Ragnarok
Taika Waititi returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the jokey Thor: Love and Thunder, which is worth seeing primarily for Christian Bale's menacing Gorr.
Apples review: Accidental COVID allegory is Lanthimos Lite
The Greek comedy-drama Apples is an accidental COVID movie with shades of Yorgos Lanthimos that is ultimately unsatisfying.
Elvis review: Baz Luhrmann’s ridiculous, sublime biopic
Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann throws his whole mad heart into the alternately ridiculous and sublime biopic Elvis.