Language Bury Her: Studio’s Translations and Folger’s The Winter’s Tale, reviewed.

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I’ve got reviews of two shows I enjoyed in this week’s Washington City Paper: Studio Theatre second-in-command Matt Torney’s confident new production of Brian Friel’s 40-year-old Irish classic Translations, and Aaron Posner’s The Winter’s Tale over at the Folger. The former as a lot of superb performers who haven’t worked a lot in Washington before. The latter has a bunch of Posner’s favorite actors (and mine), but it’s Michael Tisdale as the maniacal King Leontes who’s the standout.

Furry Road: Isle of Dogs, reviewed.

It’s no shocker that I loved Wes Anderson’s new stop-motion adventure of Isle of Dogs. It’s a mild shocker that I didn’t cry watching it. Either time! My NPR review is here. UPDATE: I’m on the Pop Culture Happy Hour episode where we hash over some of charges of insensitivity and cultural appropriate that a few critics have levied against the movie, too. That’s on the same page as the review, but you can hear below, too.

Farewell, Angelina: Tomb Raider, reviewed.

People always told me, don’t go raiding tombs… I mean, if you’re determined to see Tomb Raider, a movie, technically, based on a 2013 reboot of a 1996 video game that previously spawned a couple of Angelina Jolie-starring movies, nothing will deter you. But you’ll be going against critical advice.

Nothing to Declare: Gringo, reviewed.

Here’s my NPR review of Gringo, a bloody farce that musters four good comic performances from primarily non-comedic actors in the service of nothing much.

Cloak & Dagger? I Hardly Know ‘Er: Red Sparrow, reviewed.

Red Sparrow, a nasty adaptation of a novel by C.I.A. veteran Jason Matthews starring Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton, is the Black Widow origin movie Marvel Studios will never make. I like a movie that gets at the existential misery of spycraft. Here’s my NPR review.

John Brown’s Body: The Raid, reviewed.

As much as like going to Ford’s Theatre to see plays about Abraham Lincoln, going to Anacostia to see plays about Frederick Douglass is a rarer pleasure. Here’s my review of Theatre Alliance’s production of Idris Goodwin’s The Raid, from this week’s Washington City Paper.