Industrial strength: the new mega-sequel struggles with both the loss of its predecessor’s leading man and the roteness that afflicts any entry in the self-perpetuating Marvel Cinematic Universe
Face the past: The Tamil filmmaker’s latest is an intricate, star-studded period epic, and yet another triumph in an extensive filmography characterized by a masterful blending of convention, innovation, and integrity
Fictional characters: Hong Sangsoo’s latest, The Novelist’s Film, is a work of deceptive minimalism, inflected with themes of aging, mortality, and the high stakes of art-making
The good old days: in Armageddon Time, James Gray offers a new, messily autobiographical spin on his career-long preoccupation with the complexities of family and the quest for autonomy
Through the looking glass: Jafar Panahi’s No Bears offers a timely story about the real and imagined borders—national, social, religious—that constrict the freedoms of Iranians
Multi-tasking: Edward Yang’s 1994 ensemble piece, A Confucian Confusion, wryly weaves references to the ancient philosophy into a relentlessly busy big-city network narrative
