Monthly Archives: September 2018

Regarding the college sex comedy “Frat Star,” it doesn’t really let co-directors Grant Johnson and Ippsie Jones off the hook by saying “They MEANT” to make something appalling. They succeeded, exposing the elitist, sexist and degrading “Greek” system as it … Continue reading →

The evangelist Billy Graham long had a film production company that produced movies with the same aim as his televised “Crusades” — to win converts, or at least reaffirmations of faith from believers. These were simple, modest-budget films with varying … Continue reading →

Shane Black writes the chewiest, funniest tough-guy dialogue in the movies. So having the writer-director of “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and “The Nice Guys” in charge of “The Predator” reboot was sure to pay dividends. He’s a born smart-ass, and … Continue reading →

What did the sisterhood used to say about “mini skirts?” “If you’re old enough to have worn them the LAST time they came around, maybe they’re not for you THIS time.” Doesn’t really apply to movies, although you could make … Continue reading →

If you ever wondered where the term “Grand Guignol,” used to describe the bloody and macabre, over-the-top-horror, came from, here it is. If you ever speculated who might have been the original “scream queen,” long before Jamie Leigh Curtis, let … Continue reading →

“MDMA” is a lurid, over-sexed, drugged–out soap opera set at the tail end of the Go Go ’80s, when Reagan was King and “Molly” was his Queen. It may pass itself off as “cautionary,” but this is exploitation, the sort … Continue reading →

It’s actor Paul Dano’s feature directing debut, this sensitive coming-of-age-in-crisis drama starring Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal and Bill Oxenbould as the kid. The wonderful and omnipresent Bill Camp is in “Wildlife” too, which earns limited release Oct. 19.

In Europe, they remember who the Evil Empire is, and why you don’t let them have a say in your elections. This has a fall opening in Europe, coming soon to the US — Thomas Vinterberg (“The Celebration,” “Far from … Continue reading →

All the upgrades, tech advances and iPhones since “Fear.com” (2002) came out, all the variations of “Friend Request” and “Unfriended: Dark Web” in computer-streaming/cell camera/web camera murder and the formula hasn’t changed. Not much, anyway. It’s still a lot of … Continue reading →

Every time you think “torture porn” is dead and gone, here comes another blood-and-bludgeoning tale to try and revive it. A famous, rich musician is tased and yanked into a van only to wake up lashed to a school desk … Continue reading →