Yearly Archives: 2018

One of the great sea changes in American culture over the past 60 years has been in attitudes toward and treatment of the mentally disabled. From the gradual abandonment of “labeling” via outmoded IQ tests and “warehousing” people we used … Continue reading →

Even those of us who adore Emily Blunt would be ever-so-quick to say that she’s no Julie Andrews. And Dick Van Dyke is every bit as irreplaceable. He’s here, just not in the same guise. But damned if Angela Lansbury … Continue reading →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →