Monthly Archives: February 2017

I think of American auteur Terrence Malick as Lucy, holding that football in front of Charlie Brown (us). Over and over again. Since the onanistic and over-rated “Tree of Life,” I’ve given up on him. Even “Thin Red Line,” which … Continue reading →

The working title of “Punching Henry” was “Still Punching the Clown.” Because we’ve been down this bemused, bittersweet road with Henry Phillips before. “Punching the Clown” (2010) was a semi-autobiographical riff on stand-up comedy’s “singer, songwriter, troubadour extraordinaire” Henry Phillips, … Continue reading →

They’ve never let James Bond age. Not really. Batman gets replaced almost constantly. Spider-Man? Don’t get me started. But there is but one Wolverine — Hugh Jackman  — and kudos to Fox and Marvel for letting the best of the X-Men make … Continue reading →

For “The Red Turtle,” Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit conjured up a romantic fantasy about a cast-away who angrily bludgeons and kills a red sea turtle, only to fall in love with the redheaded woman who pops out of … Continue reading →

“Fist Fight” offers us Charlie Day in a leading role in all his screeching glory. And who the hell wants to see that? Or hear it? It’s “Bad Teacher” meets “Three O’Clock High,” an “edgy” comedy about an anarchically dysfunctional … Continue reading →

We will see worse movies this year than “The Great Wall.” But we won’t sit through one more cynical. It’s Chinese pandering — pure agitprop — packaged as Hollywood poppycock. I can hear the pitch now — “Get your MESSAGE … Continue reading →

It’s odd to think that the ancient art form of burlesque has any place in our exhibitionist age. If Lady Gaga and legions of wannabes are willing to bare all, for free, on a red carpet, on Instagram or Facebook … Continue reading →

Telling the full story of Ukraine’s tortured history as a subservient state to Russia, then the U.S.S.R., and more recently Russia again would take a mini series. So “Bitter Harvest” zeroes in on the most infamous Evil Empire crime against … Continue reading →

The Old West has never seemed bloodier, grimmer, more Godless or lawless than the version rendered by Dutch filmmaker Martin Koolhoven. The director of the pictorially striking and tense World War II in the Occupied Countries drama “Winter in Wartime” … Continue reading →

The Great Poet played his part, almost too well. An egoist and charmer, he could be relied on to recite verse, on demand, at parties, at brothels, to strangers on the street. Callous, yet soulful, devoted yet a womanizer, he … Continue reading →