Monthly Archives: September 2013

The buzz is “Oscar worthy” on Steve “Shame/Hunger” McQueen’s film of “12 Years a Slave.” And some of that heat is on Chiwetel Ejiofor, a very good actor who gives another breakout performance as a free New Yorker kidnapped and … Continue reading →

Well, at least of the summer. Fall film season gets underway Sept. 20, at least as far as major releases go. “Prisoners” and the 3D conversion of “The Wizard of Oz” roll out next week — wide, among other titles. … Continue reading →

More silly than its sinister forebear, “Insidious: Chapter 2” is entertaining for the contortions the script takes to incorporate both a brief prequel and highlights from the first film into a new 105 minute package. This is a Mobius strip … Continue reading →

Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones revisit some blasts from their past in “The Family,” a violent action comedy about a mob family in France, thanks to the witness protection program. DeNiro does a little “Analyze This” as … Continue reading →

The moment Natalie Dormer sashays onto a screen, big screen or small, my first thought it is — “Oh, it’s Her Hotness from the ‘Henry the Eighth’ TV series.” My second thought is “When will she strip?” And the third … Continue reading →

The fabulous films of fall are just starting previews, and soon we’ll be mercifully free of that annual late summer swoon of slop (“Riddick,””Two Guns,” “The Family” et al). So where do we stand as a tentative best of the … Continue reading →

Overlong and comically broad, the Mexican-made “Instructions not Included”, a surprise late-summer box office hit, is still not without its charms. A Spanish-language (with subtitles) comic weeper about single parenting and the immigrant experience, it makes a fine showcase for … Continue reading →

Reviews are calling “Blue Caprice,” the new thriller about the D.C. Snipers, “the most frightening monster movie of the year,” (New York Observer). And the praise for the film’s star, Isaiah Washington, is even more rapturous, praising his “mesmerizing authority … Continue reading →