Charles Pulliam-Moore

Film & TV Reporter

Charles Pulliam-MooreSep 9, 2024

Piece By Piece.

Before N.E.R.D, The Neptunes, and becoming one of the more convincing arguments for the existence of vampires, Pharrell Williams was a kid from Virginia Beach who didn’t know that most people don’t see sounds as colors. He had no way of knowing that his love for music would transform him into one of the most influential artists of the 21st century. But those who knew him could always see that he was destined for greatness.

The doc is gorgeous, but far from revelatory, and features too much Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake for its own good.

Charles Pulliam-MooreSep 9, 2024

Nightbitch.

Though mother (Amy Adams) loves her husband and son, she can’t deny feeling trapped in her life of suburban domesticity. She would never admit to feeling like a caged animal — a dog, specifically — being driven mad. And yet when she starts sprouting hair from strange places all over her body and craving red meat, her feelings seem to be transforming her in ways that shouldn’t be possible.

The film skews more comedic than the book, and eases up on the body horror to its detriment. Adams is great, but this could have been so much meatier.

Charles Pulliam-MooreSep 8, 2024

Superboys of Malegaon.

For broke cinephiles like Nasir Shaikh (Adarsh Gourav), piracy is the ultimate form of flattery. It’s the only way he can bring the world’s films to his hometown where his families expect him to be responsible and get a humdrum job.

It’s hard for Nasir to explain why he can’t get over his dream of making films. But when he starts creating experimental parodies, his peers can’t deny his talent or their desire to join in. As biopics go, the film’s a stunner that starts wobbly but sticks the landing.

Charles Pulliam-MooreSep 8, 2024

The Substance.

Nobody shines quite like TV aerobics star Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), but when her sexist boss fires her on her 50th birthday, she spirals into an existential darkness that feels like death.

All she wants is for the world to see how powerful she still feels inside, which is why she doesn’t think twice about injecting a mysterious cosmetic drug known simply as “The Substance.” And while The Substance gives her exactly what she wants, it comes with some deliciously nightmarish, Cronenbergian side effects that will speak to the Malignant lovers out there.

Charles Pulliam-MooreSep 7, 2024

Rumours.

It’s nice to think the G7’s septet of world leaders would be able to commit to a plan of action in response to a mysterious global crisis.

But in Bleecker Street’s surreal black comedy Rumours, German Chancellor Hilda Ortmann (Cate Blanchett) and her fellow heads of state are too busy losing their minds to get anything done as their summit is besieged by... horny monsters. The ghouls might actually just be protesters — you’re never meant to know for certain.

But you are meant to spot the kernels of reality baked into this batshit story.

Charles Pulliam-MooreSep 7, 2024

Dead Talents Society.

In an afterlife where ghosts have to work their asses off to survive by becoming urban legends, all Rookie (Gingle Wang) wants is to haunt her little corner of Taiwan in peace.

But when she starts to fade into nothingness due to being forgotten, she realizes it might be time to get her license and become a proper myth so terrifying that she’s sustained by mortals’ fear. Professional ghosting is a cutthroat industry, though — one Rookie isn’t cut out for.

Think Monsters, Inc. meets All About Eve — it sounds wild, but it absolutely works.