Logo

Suggestions

  • About
  • Masthead
  • Donate
  • Media Kit
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Film
  • Music
  • Games
  • TV
  • Features
  • News
  • Video
  • Theater
  • Lists
  • Books

Logo

Dan Rubins

Dan Rubins is a writer, composer, and arts nonprofit leader based in New York City. He has previously written about theater for CurtainUp, Theatre Is Easy, A Younger Theatre, and the journal Shakespeare.

The Underground Railroad

Review: The Underground Railroad Is an Unsparing Depiction of Collective Trauma

by Dan Rubins
May 13, 2021

Trauma becomes tangible in Barry Jenkins’s adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel.

Blindness

José Saramago’s Blindness Takes on Heightened Meaning in Our Pandemic Age

by Dan Rubins
April 8, 2021

The phantoms of 2020 resurface with shivery impact throughout.

Six Minutes to Midnight

Review: Six Minutes to Midnight Smothers Its Historical Appeal in Melodrama

by Dan Rubins
March 22, 2021

Andy Goddard’s film clumsily superimposes a frenzied, completely fictional spy adventure onto a fascinating fragment of pre-war history.

Soul

Review: Pixar Animation’s Oscar-Nominated Soul Arrives on Disney Blu-ray

by Dan Rubins Ed Gonzalez
March 21, 2021

Soul gets a reference-quality presentation, but the supplements package (and packaging) lacks in, well, soulfulness.

Raya and the Last Dragon

Review: Raya and the Last Dragon Is a Gorgeously Rendered Celebration of Hope

by Dan Rubins
March 1, 2021

The film sticks the landing as a manifestation of what unfettered trust in our shared humanity could look like.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

Review: Sponge on the Run Sends SpongeBob on a Cash Grab for Kamp Koral

by Dan Rubins
February 27, 2021

If the SpongeBob franchise has finally gone on the run, it seems like it’s left the audience that matters most in the dust.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Review: The United States vs. Billie Holiday Is Anchored by a Magnetic Andra Day

by Dan Rubins
February 19, 2021

The film finds its purpose most pointedly when it zeroes in on the unambiguous relationship between Holiday and “Strange Fruit.”

The Dig

Review: The Dig Eloquently Exhumes a Period and People in Transition

by Dan Rubins
January 27, 2021

The Dig clearly relishes in having found so many fascinating real people arriving at one place at once.

Under the Radar 2021: A Thousand Ways (Part One): A Phone Call and Disclaimer

Under the Radar 2021: A Thousand Ways (Part One): A Phone Call and Disclaimer

by Dan Rubins
January 13, 2021

The festival is now part-streaming and part-live on a variety of platforms.

Beautiful Something Left Behind

Review: Beautiful Something Left Behind Celebrates Symbolism as a Salve for Grief

by Dan Rubins
January 7, 2021

Katrine Philp’s documentary boldly argues for a clear-eyed frankness in talking to bereaved children about loss.

Pinocchio

Review: Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio Pays Dark and Quirky Homage to a Classic

by Dan Rubins
December 21, 2020

Garrone’s adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s story trembles with corporeal strangeness and unpredictability.

The Prom

Review: Netflix’s The Prom Is the Dream Date It Wasn’t on Broadway

by Dan Rubins
December 1, 2020

Ryan Murphy’s vibrant film adaptation makes a closer-to-seamless whole of the story’s disparate parts.

Soul

Review: Soul More Sublimely Mediates on the Pull of Music Than It Does the Afterlife

by Dan Rubins
November 29, 2020

In a troubling reversal from Pixar films past, it’s kids who will have to do the most heavy lifting to keep up here.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Review: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Is a Moving Swan Song for Chadwick Boseman

by Dan Rubins
November 20, 2020

Boseman meticulously charts the breakdown of a man discovering that pursuit and escape are inextricably intertwined.

Come Away

Review: Come Away Stumbles Down a Rabbit Hole of Its Own Confused Making

by Dan Rubins
November 12, 2020

Come Away can’t seem to decide whether it’s fantasy or allegory and whether its characters are fan fiction or flesh and blood.

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

Review: Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey Is a Joyful Ode to Collaboration

by Dan Rubins
November 9, 2020

The greatest gift offered by the film is an empowering world that looks less like invention and more like real life.

Let Him Go

Review: Let Him Go Is a Hammy Melodrama That’s Parched for Backstory

by Dan Rubins
November 2, 2020

Despite a searing performance from Diane Lane, writer-director Thomas Bezucha’s Let Him Go ultimately self-immolates.

Wolfwalkers

Review: Wolfwalkers Vibrantly Confronts and Plays on the Fear of the Unknown

by Dan Rubins
October 27, 2020

The storyline’s edges are frayed just enough to give it the gentle distance of a tale recalled though the gauze of myth and memory.

War with Grandpa

Review: The War with Grandpa Is a Parade of Stale-on-Arrival Gags

by Dan Rubins
October 8, 2020

Only when left to their own devices do the film’s stars enter the less manic, more heartfelt realm of the book.

The Glorias

The Glorias Review: A Perspective-Shifting Ode of Gloria Steinem’s Life

by Dan Rubins
September 28, 2020

This double helix of a biopic offers a twisty chronology and a slate of perspective-shifting surprises.

Previous 1 2 3 4 Next

Most Recent Posts

  • Dead Space
    Dead Space Review: Remake of a Classic Brings New Nightmares in the Cold Black of Space
  • The Outwaters
    The Outwaters Review: What the Mojave Brings
  • IFFR 2023: Badrul Hisham Ismail’s Maryam, Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean, and Selma Vilhunen’s Four Little Adults
    International Film Festival Rotterdam 2023: Maryam, Blue Jean, and Four Little Adults
  • Belly
    Review: Hype Williams’s 1998 Crime Drama Belly Gets Lionsgate 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Edition
  • Project Wolf Hunting
    Project Wolf Hunting Blu-ray Giveaway

Sign Up for Our Weekly Newsletter

Footer Logo

© 2023 Slant Magazine

  • About
  • Masthead
  • Donate
  • Media Kit
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • About
  • Donate
  • Film
  • Music
  • TV
  • Games
  • Video
  • Theater
  • Books
  • Features
  • News
  • Giveaways