Monthly Archives: August 2016

Every shaker and mover in the world of Wall Street captured in “Equity” is wary, guarded, downright paranoid you might say. Each and every character has reason to be. Backs will be stabbed, and each knows this because in this … Continue reading →

Pierce Brosnan has wizened from the days when he sipped martinis, “shaken, not stirred,” into roles as assorted well-heeled men who sip Scotch in their designer homes. Or private jets. It’s not that he’s out of the action hero game. … Continue reading →

Yeah, it came too soon. Like his candidacy, his presidency, his premature Nobel Prize. But “Southside with You” is a lovely little Michelle and Barack first-date romance, a celebration of a symbolic presidency and a classy First Couple. This understated … Continue reading →

Two things every sports fan remembers about the boxer Roberto Duran — that his nickname, “Hands of Stone” (“Manos de Piedra“) came from his ferocious, knock-out delivering fists — and “No mas,” the infamous phrase attached to a fight he … Continue reading →

This one opens Sept. 2, and stars Allison Pill as a comic book artist who conjures up a filmmaker (Gael Garcia Bernal) in a spec script, stumbles into some drugs and connects to the custom-made sex doll business. And then … Continue reading →

A little Catholic boy tries to stop his dad’s downward spiral into alcohol and poverty in “The Confirmation,” a bleak but funny comedy from the screenwriter of “Nebraska.” What writer/director Bob Nelson has dreamed up here is a “Bicycle Thieves” … Continue reading →

Had to happen. I mean, last weekend had “Florence Foster Jenkins,” “Anthropoid,” “Pete’s Dragon” and “Sausage Party” opening wide, “Hell or High Water” opening wider. And all were at least pretty good (“Pete’s Dragon”) and most were outstanding. So this … Continue reading →

It’s been a pretty good year for faith-based films, with “Risen” and “Miracles from Heaven” showing that Hollywood can get stories about Jesus and those who worship him right. The latest remake of “Ben-Hur” pretty much lets down the side, … Continue reading →

In “War Dogs,” a couple of homeys from Hebrew School take on the job of selling arms and ammunition to the U.S. military — for a big profit, of course. Because not everybody who got rich off the invasion of Iraq … Continue reading →

Actor turned actor/director Nate Parker and his film,  “Birth of a Nation”, were sensations at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. A whopping $17.5 million was paid for the rights to this account of the slave rebellion Virginian Nat Turner led … Continue reading →