Monthly Archives: June 2019

It was a radio interview in the mid-1960s, and The Rolling Stones, in the blur of their first rush of fame were asked, “What was it like the first time you were ‘mobbed?’” We hear voices murmuring, and Mick Jagger … Continue reading →

Franco Zeffirelli did the 1968 “hippy opera” “Romeo & Juliet,” shot in his native Italy, one of the more lavish Shakespeare adaptations to hit the screen. He was a lovely stylist who directed operas and lush operatic movies, the best … Continue reading →

Mindy Kaling‘s “Late Night” is more woke than funny, but still an interesting not-quite-deep dive into the nuts and bolts of late night TV. It’s proof that if the Great Emma Thompson could not save “Men in Black: International,” she … Continue reading →

How do you make a Holocaust documentary that fails to move and struggles to connect on any level? As “Back to the Fatherland” ably illustrates, you start by stripping away most of the context. You make no effort to include … Continue reading →

This couldn’t be “The Shining” sequel nobody really asked for, or could it? Horror editor turned director Mike Flanagan adapted Stephen King’s “Shining” and Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, the old Overlook — haunted as hell, still — and a November … Continue reading →

The major thematic thread that ties all the “Toy Story” movies together is “a toy’s noblest purpose,” to entertain, teach and belong to a child. That fits neatly in the Disney and Disney/Pixar cartoon continuum, that an animated children’s film’s … Continue reading →

He likes the way she shops. Something about the items the stranger picks up at the supermarket, the care she seems to take, the fact that she pays with cash convinces Ed to compliment Ronnie. “Strategic,” he says of her … Continue reading →

Back in the heyday of “blaxploitation” cinema, the men were men — laws unto themselves, righting social, racial and criminal wrongs with their fists and guns. Women were, well, objects of desire — conquests, helpless in the smouldering gaze of … Continue reading →

By turns glorious and thrilling, revealing and well — mythic and fictional — Martin Scorsese’s “Rolling Thunder Revue” joins the ranks of epic concert tour documentaries, capturing a moment in American roots music and the icon who conjured it. Put … Continue reading →

His code-name is “T,” in the “Men in Black” fashion. But in the London office, everybody calls him (Liam Neeson) “High T.” Get it? Good. That’s a rare thing, a joke that lands, even softly. And in his sage advice … Continue reading →