Monthly Archives: June 2014

The French culinary comedy “Le Chef” is not to be confused with the delicious and more substantial Jon Favreau farce “Chef,” in theaters at the same time. “Le Chef” is a 2012 French film, coincidentally released just as Favreau’s comedy … Continue reading →

Sequels, as “22 Jump Street” joked, are always “the same, only worse.”So any pretense of insight into the battle of the sexes and any real connection to stand-up comic turned self-appointed relationships expert Steve Harvey’s book, “Act Like a Lady, … Continue reading →

Google the phrase “Abortion Comedy” and all the entries point you to one film — “Obvious Child.” “Finally, a romantic comedy about abortion,” raves the Los Angeles Times, among others. Then, there are the attacks — from the right wing … Continue reading →

The actual final figures for last weekend’s box office take showed that “22 Jump Street” did a little worse — $57 million as opposed to close to $60 — than earlier estimates had indicated. And “How to Train Your Dragon … Continue reading →

Whatever charms turned the musical “Jersey Boys” into a Tony winning Broadway hit are sorely missed in Clint Eastwood’s tone deaf corpse of a movie. Late to the game, blandly cast and scripted with every Italian American cliche in the … Continue reading →

The Paul Haggis drama “Third Person” is, like his Oscar-winning “Crash,” a series of interlocking stories. Each is fascinating , or at least interesting its own right. Each is cast with more than capable actors.Like “Crash,” the conceit that ties … Continue reading →

It helps, when you’re a movie star, to be what they call “Movie Star Handsome.”But don’t tell that to Guy Pearce. A leading man, oft-employed as a dashing cad (“The King’s Speech”) or chiseled villain (“Iron Man 3”), he still … Continue reading →

“Vanda” stumbles into the theater from off the street, drenched from a French cloudburst.She curses, stumbles about, pleads. Can’t she get an audition? Thomas, the adapter/director, has just gotten off the phone, griping to his fiancee that he cannot cast … Continue reading →

The spring and summer of 2012 are forever ago — in movie years. And that suits Taylor Kitsch just fine. It’s a year worth forgetting, in a lot of ways. The hunky star of the TV version of “Friday Night … Continue reading →

“Coherence” is an indie thriller of modestly cerebral ambitions, a Theatre of the Absurd piece with “Twilight Zone” touches. Round up eight friends for a dinner party. Set us up for the usual interpersonal melodramas — this character used to … Continue reading →