Monthly Archives: June 2014

Let’s hold this truth to be self-evident. Nobody ever changed his or her deep rooted political beliefs by watching a political documentary. Ever.Such films, from the Jerry Falwell backed attacks on the Clintons to Michael Moore’s Jeremiads, to “Hillary: The … Continue reading →

  The reviews, if you look closely at them, are closer to lukewarm endorsements than “Gotta see this!” raves. But “Edge of Tomorrow” has Tom Cruise, dying, comically, dozens of times. Played for laughs. Head shots, impalings, crushed in accidents, … Continue reading →

Shailene Woodley, who can do no acting wrong, brings a welcome reality to “The Fault in Our Stars,” a perfectly serviceable teen date picture that teenage girls will have to bribe teenage boys to sit through.Sweet, cute to the point … Continue reading →

Jean Reno was born Juan Moreno y Herrera Jiménez in Casablanca to Spanish parents. But he is as French as a guy who moved to France at age 17 can be, as French as his stage name.At home for decades … Continue reading →

Some weeks back a few friends asked me about the movies I was most looking forward to this summer. And I found that a head-scratcher. The staggering list of sequels, reboots, desultory formula comedies and the like had me giving … Continue reading →

The mass suicide of Reverend Jim Jones and his Jonestown cult must seem fantastical, like something straight out of a horror movie to those too young to have any memory of the story. So that’s what director Ti West (“The … Continue reading →

In this year’s annual Tom Cruise sci-fi epic, he plays an over matched future soldier condemned to repeat the same botched D-Day invasion until he triumphs against the alien beasties who keep killing him and forcing him to start this … Continue reading →

Movies and movie makers generally play by a set of rules. A story unfolds and a mystery unravels, and at some point it all starts to make sense. We count on it. “Borgman” breaks that covenant. Dutch director Alex Van … Continue reading →

Mark Strong is such a great Brit-villain (“Sherlock Holmes,””Kick-Ass”) that he landed a part in that clever bad-guys-drive-Jaguars commercial that’s been making the rounds since the Super Bowl.So he’s cast against type as the hero of “Anna,” a solid if … Continue reading →

She was a wide-eyed revelation as a child actress, giving emotional weight to films such as “Man on Fire” or even “War of the Worlds.” But Dakota Fanning’s journey to adulthood and more grownup roles was, as it often is, … Continue reading →