Monthly Archives: September 2018

The only time to watch “El Camino Christmas” is far-removed from the Christmas season. No sense ruining Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza. But truth be told, there is no “good” time to watch this sour, mostly-humorless holiday hostage “comedy.” It … Continue reading →

“Scruffy little comedy” is critic-speak for a movie that, whatever its shortcomings, makes up for them with little grace notes. It could be a scene, here and there, a particularly charming story thread, grand cinematography, a stand-out funny performance or … Continue reading →

“Lost Child” is a moody Missouri thriller about a soldier who comes returns, scarred by war, only to contend with the superstitions of the foothills village she called home. It’s got remote locations and a hint of folkways going for … Continue reading →

There’s a little confusion over the title — IMDB calls it “First Light.”  And then there’s the release date from Gravitas Ventures. They showed it at South By Southwest, just released a trailer. So “Coming soon.” Looks like sci-fi on … Continue reading →

He’s performed in films of Wilde plays, been an openly gay actor longer than any of his far more timid comperes, so this had to happen. Stephen Fry played Wilde, Everett’s Oscar captures more of the fun, so it would … Continue reading →

It’s generally unwise to complain when something or someone “tries too hard,” because the alternative is always far worse. But everybody in “Fun Mom Dinner” wanted ever-so-much to make Paul Rudd’s wife’s script funny, that cast and crew must have … Continue reading →

  “Cruise” is a coming-of-age melodrama seemingly displaced in time. It’s a car culture summer romance built around transportation, sex and petty theft and set to the soundtrack of what’s playing on everybody’s car radio — an “American Graffiti” parked … Continue reading →

    Long before his death in 2009, the painter Andrew Wyeth had to deal with “dead white male” dismissals. A painter of “extreme realism,” whose skill matched his talents, and whose subtlety got lost in mass popularity, high priced … Continue reading →

Sleep Paralysis, a sort of paralyzing nightmare, is a real phenomenon that affects a very large portion of the population, a graphic at the beginning of “Mara” tells us. And historically, people in various cultures over the ages have thought … Continue reading →

The silly, chaste musicals of Bollywood could not be further removed from “Garbage,” a tedious, tawdry and torturous take on India’s gender wars from the director who bills himself as “Q.” Qaushiq Mukherjee has written and directed a gruesome and … Continue reading →