Monthly Archives: July 2016

Here’s something Hollywood “revenge” thrillers always get wrong. They always give their hero “special skills.” You know, what Liam Neeson bragged about in “Taken,” what Sly Stallone let others attribute to him in “Rambo.” Real thrills and real engagement with … Continue reading →

Horror survived its widely criticized “torture porn” phase — movies with nubile young women and occasionally handsome young actors eviscerated, etc., on the screen. And it will survive writer-director Ben Cresciman’s self-consciously obscure and artsy variation, which could be labeled … Continue reading →

The pre-release predictions that “Star Trek Beyond” wasn’t going to revive the franchise that “Star Trek Into Darkness” deflated have proven true. So, kudos to Box Office Mojo and Box Office Guru for calling this one right. A step fall-off … Continue reading →

Deadline.com is emphasizing the negative regarding  the opening weekend of “Star Trek Beyond,” with some justification. It’s opening, based on late Wed., Thursday and Friday’s numbers, with $60 million in ticket sales. But “Star Trek Into Darkness,” the last film … Continue reading →

There’s some ridiculously high number on the tomatometer for “Star Trek Beyond,” which plays like the farewell to this “Enterprise” crew even though Paramount, just this week, announced a fourth film. Forget the Tomatometer. Metacritic has a much more sober … Continue reading →

  The effects sparkle and the design dazzles in “Star Trek Beyond,” perhaps the best looking “Star Trek” movie ever. And Simon Pegg — cast member and avid Trekker — has served up a pulpy and derivative script that panders … Continue reading →

I was always more of a fan of Garry Marshall the character than Garry Marshall the director. I rolled my eyes at “Pretty Woman” and had a hard time sitting through such indulgences as “Valentine’s Day” and “Georgia Rule.” But … Continue reading →

Viggo Mortensen gives perhaps his sweetest performance as a father determined to righteously raise his kids “off the grid” and disconnected from much of society in “Captain Fantastic,” an earthy, funny and sometimes poignant portrait of a family that could … Continue reading →

The films of Ira Sachs always send me to the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) to remind me of his credits. Because “an artist,” the old saying goes, “hammers the same nail over and over again.” Knowing he did the quietly … Continue reading →

The great Werner Herzog is the cinema’s most curious filmmaker, and his probing camera and soft spot for eccentrics make this (fiction) feature filmmaker’s documentaries stand alone. His wide-ranging intellectual inquisitiveness is well-served in “”Lo and Behold, Reveries of the … Continue reading →