Yearly Archives: 2016

For all the near photo-realism of today’s generation of computer-generated effects, there’s still something to be said for old-fashioned, tactile costumes and make-up, for real settings and real scenery. Want to show an ogre? Dress up a very tall man, … Continue reading →

The Filmmakers’ Generation has but a handful of saints. More than a few of them are Italian-American. Most have had to fall back on their reputations in recent years. Some got too rich to keep working. Some tried to do … Continue reading →

Even Kristen Stewart knew the world was in no need of a sequel to that dreary “Snow White and the Huntsman” movie she made. But being pointless turns out to be the least of the shortcomings of “The Huntsman: Winter’s … Continue reading →

It’s just a tiny slice of pop culture trivia, meaningless in the greater historical sagas of the lives of The President and The King. But you can’t look at that photo of Elvis Presley meeting Richard Nixon in The Oval … Continue reading →

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.

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 →