Monthly Archives: March 2018

  “Girlfriend’s Day” is a quick, dark sketch of a comedy, sort of a Bob Oedenkirk special. Made with a bunch of friends doing cameos (Derek Waters of “Drunk History,” Flo from those “Progressive” commercials, Toby Huss, Natasha Lyonne, Ed … Continue reading →

Dennis Quaid is the abusive husband and dad who bullies and poor-mouths the kid who grew up to write MercyMe’s “I Can Only Imagine.” J. Michael Finley is “Bart Millard,” the songwriter. Cloris Leachman also stars, with Trace Adkins. Not … Continue reading →

Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne and Anne Dowd are the adult stars, with Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro as the kids menaced by um, bad genes? Grandma? A24 is a studioA24 is a studio that releases challenging films, even the … Continue reading →

Tessa Thompson has emerged as a Hollywood “It” girl, and packaging her with Oscar winners Whoopi Goldberg, Melissa Leo and Anna Paquin is a clever move to cement that status. Tessa (“Dear White People”) is the guard sent to make … Continue reading →

Love Shailene. Love sailboats. Love sailboat “Amazing true tales of the sea.” “Adrift” is one of those “I’m not the SAILOR here” stories about a couple at sea, the sailing buff guy (Sam Claflin) gets badly hurt, and Shailene Woodley … Continue reading →

  It gets better, the saying and the TV public service announcement campaign told us. Years ago. And it has. The occasional giant step backward notwithstanding, we’re a long way from “The Hangover” (2009) and its “Paging Dr. Faggot” jokes. … Continue reading →

Is there a more frightening creature in the movies than a bored, amoral teenage girl? Give the pale princess endless cash and endless free time and problems that seem to visit only the super-rich (in the movies) and you just … Continue reading →

Death comes to the trailer park in “The Strangers: Prey at Night,” a pitiless sequel to the slasher hit “The Strangers” of a decade ago. Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”) and Martin Henderson (“Grey’s Anatomy”) are the parents who take their … Continue reading →

Aliens invade — well, three of them do — Japan, and they’re here for our mental “concepts” in “Before We Vanish,” a peculiarly Japanese take on Pod People, what makes us human and the complacency that comes with that knowledge. … Continue reading →

  Alicia Vikander makes us feel Lara Croft’s pain, with every grunt, whimper, yelp and gasp of exertion she makes as the “Tomb Raider.” Yes, the Oscar winner is a Swedish slip of a thing, and having her stand next … Continue reading →