Monthly Archives: March 2019

“Acts of Desperation” is a helluva title for a dark comedy. “Dark?” People are shot, people die. “Comic?” It’s positively drowning in goofy characters. There’s the police chief (Paul Sorvino) who wears four stars on his lapel and is introduced, … Continue reading →

“Trading Paint” is a laid-back ode to the transformative gravitas of a letting a beard go grey and the competitive pleasures of Big Time NASCAR’s “small time” — Super Late Model dirt track racing. There’s not much to it, and … Continue reading →

Imitation in the sincerest form of flattery, so the producers of Pixar’s tedious “Cars” movies should be flattered to the point of blushing by “Wheely.” It’s a straight-up “Cars” knock-off about racing and a race car who escapes his pedestrian … Continue reading →

Charlotte and her pals Mégane and Aube spend an afternoon hunting through the sex shop for bustiers. She’s dying to find something to turn on Samuel, her beau, and she won’t let Aube’s naivete (she’s a virgin) or Mégane’s anti-romantic/anti-capitalist … Continue reading →

“A madman can be redeemed.” Who is Mel Gibson speaking of, here? He and Sean Penn are the leads in this all-star cast account of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, compiled by James Murray (Gibson) and Dr. William … Continue reading →

A dark comedy — a bleak worldview — a life lived in fear. Of everything. Why this guy doesn’t buy a gun (It’s “The American Way”) is anybody’s guess. But this Jesse Eisenberg vehicle shows promise in its premise, and … Continue reading →

The second weekend of Marvel’s “Captain Marvel” guarantees that Oscar winner Brie Larson will never go hungry, so long as their are comic book/movie conventions. Opening with gusto last weekend was great, but hitting $68 the second weekend means that … Continue reading →

“Gloria Bell” is the picture of supportive, understanding patience and resilience. It lets the 50ish divorcée (Julianne Moore) thrive at work, as an insurance claims mediator/adjuster. Maybe it explains how she’s still on good terms with her remarried ex (Brad … Continue reading →

There’s a tipping point to how much editing a movie can sustain before it becomes visually incoherent. It’s a sweet spot in the modern, flood-of-rapid-fire cuts style that sits somewhere between say the Paul Greengrass (Christopher Rouse, editor) “Bourne” movies … Continue reading →

Gimmicky? Sure. But cute, clownish? No. Not even a joke about “We have PLENTY of Neanderthals ALREADY,” not in the trailer anyway. “William” is about a scientist couple who decide to give birth (via DNA swap) to a Neanderthal (young) … Continue reading →