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Cinemails

In our “Cinemails” column, two writers exchange viewing notes on a recent theatrical or streaming experience and/or dig into something more broadly philosophical about the movies.

In a spacious and opulent house, two sisters stand at a medium shot in a sunlit room and look out to the right (through an unseen window). Both women have dark brown hair that is pulled back. They also both wear comfortable, long-sleeve clothing.

Evaluating tenderness and depth of family dynamics in “Sentimental Value”

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December 10, 2025

Grant Phipps and Lance Li argue in favor of and against the artistic framework of Joachim Trier's latest psychological family drama.

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A modified still from the film "Weapons" shows several third-grade children running away from their suburban homes in the dead of night. The color-grading renders everything in a blue-ish grey, with the children running in a strange formation down a street into the distance. The children's arms are all held out to their sides to form an arrow-like shape.
Balancing acts in the multifaceted mystery of “Weapons”
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August 30, 2025

Edwanike Harbour and Jason Fuhrman swap responses to Zach Cregger's late-summer hit, an adaptable network narrative of psychological horror and black comedy.

A still image from the film "The Phoenician Scheme" shows three figures aboard a small aircraft in the cramped cockpit. A man in his 50s wears a business suit, sitting at the left with a broken arm; but he's flying the plane nonetheless. To his immediate right and behind him, a younger woman crouches and stares ahead with a concerned expression. She is dressed in a white habit as a novice nun. And to her right is a slightly older man dressed in a tan corduroy suit with a vest and bowtie. He stares out the lefthand window of the plane. All their expressions reflect concern or alarm.
Crises of faith and fortune in “The Phoenician Scheme”
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June 28, 2025

David Boffa and Sara Batkie contemplate the spiritual and reflexive dimensions of Wes Anderson's latest deadpan adventure.

The main character of Anora is centered in the frame, dancing joyously with her eyes closed. She wears a sparkling red dress in a room with others bathed in a magenta-colored light.
The splenetic slapstick and severe stakes of “Anora”
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December 2, 2024

Sara Batkie and Edwanike Harbour discuss the twists and turns of Sean Baker's latest award-winning dramedy.

A young man in a grey jumpsuit stands in a somewhat dimly lit spacecraft corridor. He has a perplexed, trepidatious expression.
Still collating: The mixed mutations of the “Alien” franchise
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September 11, 2024

Scott Gordon and Grant Phipps trade notes on "Alien: Romulus" and take stock of the series' cruel, expanding universe.

A woman in her late 20s stands in a darkened room peering out the window in horror at something unseen. She covers her mortified expression with her left hand while reaching for a holstered gun on her waistband with her right hand. The daylight from the window softly illuminates the room.
The short shelf life of “Longlegs”
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August 12, 2024

Edwanike Harbour and Jason Fuhrman consider the issues that define and afflict Osgood Perkins' recent horror hit.

Against a golden-orange CGI city backdrop, two actors stand atop a platform in dark formal attire. The man on the left peers through a spyglass at a hexagon-shaped slide in his other hand. The woman, behind him, looks over at him with intrigue.
What will the future of cinema look like?
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July 16, 2024

Film editor Grant Phipps and contributor Maxwell Courtright effusively ponder a question suggested by filmmaker Gina Telaroli.