Monthly Archives: February 2015

“Focus” earned mixed reviews, and truth be told, Will Smith’s kind of yesterday’s news. So this caper comedy/romance wasn’t going to be that much-needed blockbuster comeback for him. It’s opening in first place this weekend, but will be lucky to … Continue reading →

“Queen and Country” begins with a reprise of one of the most famous scenes in British cinema. It’s that magical moment from John Boorman’s “Hope and Glory” when a schoolboy, living in London during The Blitz, turns a corner and … Continue reading →

The dust rises in puffy clouds over every scene in the limply-named “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks.” To call this comedy old fashioned, old school or just old and creaky doesn’t do this fusty farce justice. Even the cobwebs … Continue reading →

As accounts of movie-flops-in-the-making go, “My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn” is a pretty tame affair. The stakes are low. Nobody died or divorced, nobody’s career ended. The director of “Drive” only loses his temper when he has to … Continue reading →

“Everly” is the sort of gonzo guns and Ginsu knives thriller Tarantino made back before he discovered the joys of bloat. It’s the sort of movie where the titular heroine (Salma Hayek) takes bullets and stabbings and keeps coming back … Continue reading →

“The Lazarus Effect” is what happens when hip, smart actors commit themselves to a horror movie, body and soul. Mark Duplass (“Safety Not Guaranteed”), a mainstay of indie cinema’s microbudget “mumblecore” movement, and recent convert Olivia Wilde (“Drinking Buddies”) ably … Continue reading →

The girl wears elbow-length gloves and hair that hides other burn scars from her face. She’s made her way to Hollywood by bus, but knows enough to hire a limo to get around town. Within days she’s found a job … Continue reading →

The trouble with movies about “The Big Con” is that they condition us to not believe anything we see up on screen — relationships, who is conning whom, deaths, etc. “Focus” one-ups that by pushing a romance to the fore, … Continue reading →