Monthly Archives: April 2016

Rave all you like about the computer-generated imagery, the gorgeous 3D jungle flora and fauna of Disney’s latest version of “The Jungle Book.” You will forget about all that technology within minutes of the opening credits. The interface between a … Continue reading →

Mercurial, menacing, charismatic and deep — those are the traits that made Don Cheadle the right guy to take on mythic jazzman and icon of cool Miles Davis. Cheadle suggests, in not-quite-equal measure, each of those facets of persona in … Continue reading →

The Brazilian soccer star Pele’ is, by consensus, the greatest to ever play the sport he dubbed “the beautiful game.” Charismatic, playful, a guy whose joy on the pitch is obvious even in archival footage of his glory days, he … Continue reading →

Pretty good parody, plainly they “get” the movies. Thus, does “Saturday Night Live” get the “God’s Not Dead” guys right where it hurts. In the mockery bone.

Disney’s latest take on Kipling’s “The Jungle Book,” with CGI animals and a somewhat less animated human or two, is cleaning up. Friday’s blockbuster numbers suggest it will exceed predictions and reach $82-85 million. That number soared Saturday and now … Continue reading →

Seriously flummoxed by the laudatory reviews for the overloaded, stagey/preachy most-laughs-miss “message” comedy “Barbershop: The Next Cut.” It’s an almost two hour sermon, with characters marching onto center stage, doing their “bit,” then sauntering off. Badly directed, Common can’t play … Continue reading →

I love Richard Linklater’s movies. He and I are contemporaries, both Southerners and film buffs, so I’m pretty much his target audience. He should have won the best director Oscar for “Boyhood.” But his new film, “Everybody Wants Some!!,” while … Continue reading →

Look at that face. Kind of Toby Jones meets Aldo Ray on Cellblock 9, right? That’s character actor Neville Archambault. And if I tell you he plays the pervert/lead in a movie about a creep who installs hidden cameras all … Continue reading →

Jake Gyllenhaal makes some interesting movie choices, doesn’t he? You don’t see him in ensemble pictures (“Everest”) often. He leans towards the idiocentric and the Jake-centric. He’ll occasionally pair up with another “name” for a “Prisoners” or “Southpaw.” But lately, … Continue reading →

“Criminal” is a Kevin Costner vehicle. But he can wait. Let’s say a little prayer of thanks for Ryan Reynolds first. It’s a sci-fi spy thriller that has the CIA (Gary Oldman, Alice Eve) order a scientist dabbling in memory … Continue reading →