Monthly Archives: March 2015

Octavia Spencer has spent the years since her 2012 Oscar night cashing in on the success “The Help” brought her. She was the mother of a police shooting victim in the critically acclaimed “Fruitvale Station,” an alcoholic helping a much … Continue reading →

George Lucas was once quoted as saying “Figure out what 11 year old girls want, and you’re set for life.” Or words to that effect. That’s certainly true in the land of Disney Princesses. “Cinderella” opened huge Friday and seems … Continue reading →

It’s possible to tell a sci-fi story about the coming age of sentient machines without a “Chappie” size budget, or turning “Chappie” insipid. “Eva” is a modestly chilling if predictable Spanish science fiction film about “emo” robots. A 2011 vehicle … Continue reading →

“Run All Night” is a first-person shooter thriller for the Just for  Men/Grecian Formula generation. Old men — cops and mobsters — sit in bars, drink their Scotch on the rocks and talk about the “old neighborhood,” their long history … Continue reading →

“Mr. Kaplan”, Uruguay’s contender for the best foreign language film Oscar, is about an elderly Jew who ponders whether he “inspired” anyone, if he’s “accomplished anything memorable.” Jacob Kaplan (Héctor Noguera) decides the answer is “no,” and results to do … Continue reading →

A film crew hoping to shoot a killer pilot for a TV series on “Cannibals of the 20th Century” — no doubt Discovery is interested — heads into rural Ukraine to document a mass murderer and cannibal who survived Stalin’s … Continue reading →