Matt Stewart

I found Squaring the Circle to be smart, interesting and engaging … until the end. How did Thorgerson’s and Powell’s wildly creative, powerful and successful partnership - Hipgnosis - suddenly become so bitter and bankrupt? I felt that there was a big piece of the story left out, which left me bewildered and a bit cold.

Fellow Travelers bit off way more than it could chew in five episodes. The main subject matter (McCarthy, Cohn and the House on Un-American Activities Committee), is very interesting and there are some solid performances, but so many storylines and so much character development are skimmed over that, ultimately, the whole thing feels a bit unsatisfying.

The Midnight Sky is desperately trying to recreate what Gravity did so well, blending loss and longing with taut, hair raising adventure. TMS is too full of characters we’re supposed to care about and too devoid of actual character development and good old fashioned excitement.

If Donna Summer’s family’s goal with this documentary was to make her appear to be a joyless victim, mission accomplished. I understand adversity, struggle and self-doubt were a big part of her story (as they are with most people), but as one of the biggest musical stars of the late 20th who seemed to have a massive work ethic and took her wildly successful career (as well as her role as a mother, sister and daughter) quite seriously, where were the moments of happiness, accomplishment and satisfaction? There had to have been a few somewhere along the way, but if there were they sure didn’t turn up in this dark, dreary version of Summer’s story.

As opposed to the thoughtfully drawn and excellently acted The Father, The Son is tone deaf and left a stellar cast with little to work with looking ridiculous and hammy. The melodramatic script might have worked 30 years ago as an after school special, but the idea that well-heeled Manhattanites in the 2020s would be so wholly unaware of the massive red flags waving all around them is ludicrous. I almost turned this movie off several times, but stuck with it just to see how much worse it would get. Sad waste of a group of very talented actors and potentially powerful subject matter.