Le Journal

With “The History of Concrete,” John Wilson takes the least interesting subject imaginable — the dull gray composite used for sidewalks, overpasses and pretentious art films like “The Brutalist” — and crafts what’s likely to be the most entertaining documentary of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Trying to extract laughs (and deeper insights, on occasion) […]

A cross-cultural tale of grief and dance, Josef Kubota Wladyka’s “Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty!” stems from an intimate place, but ends up emotionally inert thanks to its style. Its key strength is a committed lead performance from Rinko Kikuchi, who fits effortlessly into a role inspired by the director’s mother. However, while trying to confront […]

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from “9:00 a.m.,” Episode 3, Season 2 of “The Pitt,” now streaming on HBO Max. When storyline conversations began for Season 2 of “The Pitt,” star and executive producer Noah Wyle and executive producers R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells knew they wanted to honor the Jewish and Muslim […]

Did I believe that Chris Pine, with his waxed and coiffed Beverly Hills look, is a sad-sack divorced physician who wears a stethoscope around his neck as he runs his quaint office as a general practitioner in Cleveland, Ohio? Not quite. But as Noah, Pine gives a performance that’s rippled with anger and vulnerability, and he’s such a good actor that he holds the screen.