Monthly Archives: April 2019

There were two great take-aways from the horror classic “The Blair Witch Project.” One was the faux veracity of “found footage,” which ratcheted up the fear that “This really happened, and their footage was all that’s left!” Yeah, we knew … Continue reading →

Pioneering Franco-American filmmaker Alice Guy was never completely forgotten. Her movies would be mentioned by legendary directors like Hitchcock and Eisenstein in their memoirs. Every so often, over the decades of her life and in the 50 years since her … Continue reading →

Maybe it’s bad form to slap a movie you like with the one thing you didn’t like about it, right from the top, but here goes. There’s a third act turn toward the dark in “No Alternative” that feels abrupt, … Continue reading →

He’s making movies for a smaller studio, the almost-indie Saban Films. And he’s cutting his hair and playing a real role here, a college prof who discovers he’s dying of cancer and lives his life accordingly. There’s a hint of … Continue reading →

A few laughs, signs that this animated sequel is headed in more interesting directions — more realistic pet “problems” spun out of the secret “emotional” life of pets. “The Secret Life of Pets 2” will tickle your kids June 7.

It’s not been a genre that the streaming service has been that impressive in before now. They buy horror titles that earned no real release anywhere else. And their in house fright fare hasn’t dazzled. But two beautiful young cellists/perhaps … Continue reading →

This week’s version of “She’s Out of Your League,” a rom-com concept Hollywood — well, male Hollywood — never tires of, stars Charlize Theron as the accomplished, runway-ready object of desire and Seth Rogen as the dumpy beard-o who totally … Continue reading →

If “Dumbo” taught us nothing else, it’s that if you’re going to make a movie with children interacting with animals, you need real animals for that to connect with an audience. So if you’re making a movie about a girl … Continue reading →

Sure, they don Catholic habits and call themselves nuns, even though they aren’t Catholic or even practicing Christians. But that’s neither here nor there. Other religions have devout sisters who call themselves “nuns” just to keep it simple. And it’s … Continue reading →

A boom town is always more attractive on the outside looking in. For many of those there before the gold, oil, timber or Big Ag rush began, the despair and isolation isn’t lessened by the fact that suddenly a lot … Continue reading →