Author: Al Alexander

I began as a film critic for The Patriot Ledger in suburban Boston in 1988, and became the senior film critic there in 2001. My reviews also appeared in newspapers associated with the nationwide Gannett chain. I' was recently granted membership to the prestigious Southeastern Film Critics Association and I've been a member of the North Carolina Film Critics Association since 2014. I have twice been honored by The New England Associated Press News Executives Association for outstanding feature writing. I transplanted from Boston to Raleigh in 2013 but remained on staff at the Ledger until 2023. I'm now starting out on my own in hopes of drawing attention to autism and putting it in a positive light. I was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum in 2020, and it has given me a whole new perspective on life, as well in how I analyze movies.

Lurker (2025)

Thrilling “Lurker” cuts to the heart of our fixation on stardom.

Relay (2025)

Nail-biting “Relay” drops the baton in its final leg.

Eden (2025)

Ungodly “Eden” is survival at its most unfittest.

Checkpoint Zoo (2024)

Every day is a ‘moving day’ in the engrossing ‘Zoo’      Perhaps the most forgotten casualties of Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine are the thousands of animals caught in the crossfire through no fault of their own. I’ve often wondered how they fared. That question has been partially answered by “Checkpoint Zoo,” director Joshua Zeman’s […]