Monthly Archives: September 2018

Netflixable? Prepare to be blindsided by “Face 2 Face”

Boy, talk about a light, dullish teen dramedy that turns icky on a dime. “Face 2 Face” is one of the most striking miscalculations in movie tone in recent memory. From light, right on the cusp of sweet, to just … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Netflixable? Prepare to be blindsided by “Face 2 Face”

Netflixable? “On My Skin: The Last Seven Days of Stefano Cucchi”

Franz Kafka was born in Prague and died in a sanitarium outside of Vienna. But his Kafkaesque nightmare of maddening bureaucracy run by heartless, buck-passing functionaries lives on just to the south, in the courts, hospitals and government offices of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | 2 Comments

Netflixable? “My Teacher, My Obsession,” oh my

It’s not a new movie trope, but seriously — how do you make “Hot for teacher” an acceptable subject for a movie nowadays? “My Teacher, My Obsession” whistles past the #Notlegal graveyard with horror.  Well, with a stalker/thriller, anyway. That’s what … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | 2 Comments

Preview, Bodybuilding’s Golden Age is revisited for “Bigger: The Joe Weider Story”

The guys who gave us Schwarzenegger turn up in this film about the weightlifter/bodybuilder Joe Weider, whose ads graced the inside back covers of many a classic comic book, back in the day. Julianne Hough, Tyler Hoechlin, Steve Guttenberg  Robert Forster, DJ … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Preview, Bodybuilding’s Golden Age is revisited for “Bigger: The Joe Weider Story”

Preview, “The Beach Bum” gives us Matthew McConaughey in Full Jimmy Buffett Mode

Jimmy Buffet as viewed through the Harmony Korine dark side of drunken beach poet as a lifestyle, that is. Yes, the director of “Spring Breakers,” who let us know that hell yeah, he “gets” Florida, is back with a dark … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Preview, “The Beach Bum” gives us Matthew McConaughey in Full Jimmy Buffett Mode

Netflixable? A daughter celebrates her legendary Dad in “Quincy”

If you want a thorough documentary accounting of your legendary life in music, leave the job to your adoring daughter. Rashida Jones of “Tag” and TV’s “Angie Tribeca,” didn’t have to arrange interviews for “Quincy,” the film she co-directed about … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Netflixable? A daughter celebrates her legendary Dad in “Quincy”

Movie Review: The Mutants comes to Duluth in “Strange Nature”

In Hollywood they call it “runaway production.” But here in the “Rest of the States” we call it making movies that look like America, on location, movies with a hint of “local color.” “Strange Nature” is a not-at-all-terrible low-budget horror … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Movie Review: The Mutants comes to Duluth in “Strange Nature”

Preview, It’s only punk for Elisabeth Moss, Cara Delevigne, Eric Stoltz and Virginia Madsen in “Her Smell”

A bit late for a “teaser” for a movie opening Sept. 29. And it’s a lulu. Moss plays a chatterbox, strung out punk rocker, with a camera crew in tow, surrounded by all those folks, plus Amber Heard, Ashley Benson … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Preview, It’s only punk for Elisabeth Moss, Cara Delevigne, Eric Stoltz and Virginia Madsen in “Her Smell”

Preview, An Autistic Chinese girl, a clown fish and the “Big Blue Sea”

This is intriguing — a little adventure, a bit of danger, some special gifts and a hint of, as the trailer puts it, “whimsy.” “Big Blue Sea” opens in Hong Kong in January. Maybe it’ll get US distribution, maybe Netflix … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Preview, An Autistic Chinese girl, a clown fish and the “Big Blue Sea”

Preview, “Maria by Callas” gets documentary close to the Diva’s Diva

Took opera world by storm, loved Onassis before he married Jackie, embraced in a heartbeat by the early adapters (check out who swoons over her in ticket lines), interviewed for TV for decades, this Tom Volf film, opening in November, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Preview, “Maria by Callas” gets documentary close to the Diva’s Diva