Monthly Archives: May 2015

Godmother of Horror finally gets the limelight — or is that helllight? — in latest “Insidious”

Posted on May 31, 2015 by

They call Lin Shaye “The Godmother of Horror.” Read her listed credits on the Internet Movie Database and you start to see why. “It reads like Al Capone’s rap sheet!” cracks writer/director Leigh Whannell. Some 179 acting credits, roles ranging … Continue reading →

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Box Office: “San Andreas” shakes $54 million loose, “Aloha” makes do with $10

Posted on May 31, 2015 by

“San Andreas” didn’t manage better than middling reviews. But it blew up the box office. Great effects, The Rock in the lead, all the usual disaster pic formula ingredients — $53 million+, almost $54. A very nice weekend for a … Continue reading →

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“San Andreas” rocks the box office, “Tomorrowland” #2, Pitch” #3, “Aloha” brings up the rear

Posted on May 30, 2015 by

Not the best weekend of the summer for movies, in terms of quality. If you believe the critics. Which we do, we do! “San Andreas,” the best reviewed of a weak lot, is opening big. Dwayne Johnson and great effects … Continue reading →

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Adrian Grenier still in the Chase

Posted on May 30, 2015 by

When last we left Vincent Chase, he and his “Entourage” were moving on. Ari the angry agent was leaving the biz, Eric the manager was moving from LA to NYC, and Vince? He was jetting off the Paris. Of all … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “Becoming Richard Pryor” gets close to what made the comic a legend

Posted on May 29, 2015 by

I’m a big fan of Scott Saul’s pretty-much definitive new biography of the late/great and deeply messed up comic Richard Pryor. Saul himself credits the passage of time for a lot of the access he got to Pryor’s friends, family … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: “Aloha,” Cameron Crowe. Aloha.

Posted on May 28, 2015 by

Cameron Crowe fans — and that includes most movie critics — have cut him a lot of slack over the years. Our love for “Say Anything,””Almost Famous” and “Jerry Maguire” made us embrace the big romantic gestures and little traces … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: “San Andreas” shows why The Rock is aptly named

Posted on May 27, 2015 by

Disaster movies, which pre-date the zeitgeist’s fascination with a world falling apart around us, are always great measures of the state of the Hollywood art of special effects. In “San Andreas,” you will believe the ground is rippling under Los … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: “Gemma Bovery”

Posted on May 27, 2015 by

Posy Simmonds couldn’t have had actress Gemma Arterton in mind when she wrote “Gemma Bovery,” her darkly comic 1999 spoof of Gustav Flaubert’s classic tragic 19th century novel “Madame Bovary,” about a bored provincial housewife whose affair has tragic consequences. … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: “Survivor” is a B-movie thriller that kind of works

Posted on May 27, 2015 by

For more than a decade, nothing has screamed “B-movie” louder than seeing Milla Jovovich’s name in a movie’s credits. But even in the worst of those “Resident Evil” action pictures, the model-thin Jovovich delivered fair value, packing a lot of … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: “Heaven Knows What”

Posted on May 26, 2015 by

The novelty of having a real homeless junkie play a version of herself drives “Heaven Knows What,” a gritty hand-held character portrait of heroin addict life in New York today. The unblinking character study, shot in muted shades of grey, … Continue reading →

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