Monthly Archives: October 2015

There’s a Byronic dash to Tom Hiddleston on the screen, a brooding fatalism that in an earlier era might have made him a go-to romantic lead. But like Alan Rickman, he’s been defined by Hollywood as a villain. And like … Continue reading →

The record store chain Tower Records anchors a pretty good history of the rise and fall of the American music business in “All Things Must Pass,” a documentary by the actor Colin Hanks — son of Tom. Here was a … Continue reading →

“Bridges of Spies” is a Cold War thriller freighted with all the gravitas that Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks can give it. Long, patient and chilling, it vividly captures a time in America and the feel of divided Berlin in … Continue reading →

R.L. Stine has long been the last guardian at the gate of a culture being turned, generation-by-generation, into a nation of “Dragon Tails” neutered ninnies. The “Goosebumps” writer (and TV series creator) was willing to strip-mine horror formulas and flirt … Continue reading →

Relentlessly bloody, stupidly long and laugh-out-loud funny, “Yakuza Apocalypse” is as good an introduction as any to the warped samurai sword stylings of Takashi Miike. He is Japan’s Tarantino, a gonzo genre specialist who mashes up yakuza (gangster), swordfighting and … Continue reading →

If there’s one phrase guaranteed to chill a movie studio executive to the marrow, it has to be “passion project.” Because for every one of those that pays off at the box office, the disasters are the ones we remember. … Continue reading →

“Big Stone Gap” is an old-fashioned, cornball country comedy made endurable by some sharp dialogue and efforts to go easy on the corn. It’s set in the small town that provides its title, a remote corner of the Virginia mountains, … Continue reading →

Of all the scary guys Michael Shannon has ever played — sociopaths, murderers, hell, even General Zod in a Superman movie — none is more frightening that his character in “99 Homes.” Because Richard  “Rich”Carver is a villain we know, … Continue reading →