Everyone has that one movie from their childhood that first introduced them to the magic of cinema. For me, that was Steven Spielberg’s captivating 1977 sci-fi classic.

Movies like Greg Mottola’s 2009 comedy Adventureland remind me what it was like to meet that final transitional stage of youth, full of excitement and apprehension in equal measure.

There are many moments in The Sandlot that make it an iconic sports film, but it also holds up as a surprisingly deep experience.

He had a gift unlike anything the world had seen. And in reflecting on his death 10 years later, I realized how that gift changed, guided, and affirmed me—and his young co-stars—in more ways than one.

Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End are effective comedies in their own right, but it’s how they brilliantly meld with other genres that makes them so exceptional and enduring.

A sudden crisis with an unknown duration. Increased outdoor interaction with neighbors and friends. Personal and political discontentment spilling out into the public square. Sound familiar?

The Mask of Zorro was our superhero classic before superhero products dominated en masse—the only difference being the costume and the mask.

A sci-fi comedy featuring a large, mechanical T-Rex with a human brain? That’s cinema at its finest if you ask me.

12 assertions about Greta Gerwig’s essential, controversial, deeply human movie about dolls—and the movie event of 2023.

A tour through the indie director’s impressive filmography shows a gentle and genuine kind of love that’s hard to find on screen.

Richard Curtis’s 2013 time-traveling romcom is a paean to love in all its forms.

Beneath the surface of this thrilling creature feature is the beating heart of a familial love story.

Bridesmaids brilliantly show how weddings, like friendships, can bring out the best and worst in the people you understand more than almost anyone else.

Seven movies that have given me a greater love and appreciation for the narrative I carry.

One emotional scene in Pixar’s blockbuster brought home how empathy isn’t about logic—it’s about just being there.

As a bookish 9-year-old brunette girl, I felt an instant kinship with Belle—an average person who set out to create the life of her dreams.

Disney’s forgotten 2000 animated adventure deserves to be excavated and appreciated for the gem it is.

Despite being a fan of Frank Capra’s Christmas classic, I was not prepared for the experience I was about to have seeing It’s A Wonderful Life live during the Music Box’s annual extravaganza.

Equal parts crime caper, detective story, stoner freakout, and hippy-dippy mystery, 1973’s The Long Goodbye is Robert Altman’s crowning achievement and a crackerjack of a whodunit. 

Scream is as much about the journey as it is about the destination. There’s a grim excitement in trying to guess who Ghostface is, only to find that your chief suspect gets skewered in the following scene.