Monthly Archives: March 2018

The shrinking importance of the North American box office to Hollywood is underlined by the increasing number of films that open overseas before making their bow in the U.S. “Ready Player One,” which cost in the $175 million range, will … Continue reading →

I don’t know what it is about Saab convertibles and movie road trips. But it’s a “car with character,” as in it says something about the owner, movie shorthand. Volvos and Saabs? Typically driven by academic characters in the movies. … Continue reading →

I grade big screen cartoons for kids on a sliding cynicism scale. They’re all products designed for and marketed to children, and most every studio has a deal with some animation house or other to get themselves a cut-rate piece … Continue reading →

Marvel has been taking movies in a video game Easter Egg “nothing but the fun parts” direction for the past decade. But leave it to the Old Master, Mr. Spielberg, to beat them to the punch and make a movie … Continue reading →

Not every deserving person can win the Nobel Peace Prize. There are other, lesser forms of “laureate,” for instance the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. But even had Dr. Tom Catena not won that, it seems the least society can … Continue reading →

“Isle of Dogs” is the stuff of Wes Anderson’s nightmares. Anderson’s made a Japanese epic as viewed through the twee lens in which he sees the world. A dark, daft vision of a culture that’s Turned its Back on Dog, … Continue reading →

Martin Luther King, Jr. was often introduced, as he was in his final “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech in Memphis the night before he died, as “a Moses for our times.” He was eulogized at his funeral as a … Continue reading →

Judd Apatow, who regarded the late comic master Garry Shandling as a mentor, produced and directed this documentary — adding interviews with comics who knew Garry and worked with him (Sarah Silverman, Jim Carrey) to vintage Shandling stand-up, “The Larry … Continue reading →

“Fame” doesn’t mean what it used to. And that’s just hard for a “talented, really pretty” small-town girl named Katelyn (Meredith Hagner) to accept. I mean, she’s already got her conversation with “Ellen” worked out, the “recording” she has set … Continue reading →

Two Indian-American filmmakers peel back the horrors of “arranged marriage” in their native culture in their incendiary new documentary, “A Suitable Girl.” Not really. Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra probably glanced over their shoulders back at the divorce-happy USA, which they … Continue reading →