Monthly Archives: June 2019

It’s been labeled “Sequelitis,” but the rot extends far beyond a glib description of what part of America’s most lucrative export has become — mass production mediocrity, lacking innovation, consumed with recycling what’s worked before. “Men in Black” was played … 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 →

Strip away the run away hits of the summer — those pre-summer phenomena “Avengers: Endgame” and “Aladdin” — and it’s been a near disaster at the box office for any and all concerned. Another weekend, another rebooted franchise swings and … 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 →

Yeah, I know “summer” has moved up and up the calendar, thanks to climate change and Hollywood’s eagerness to jump start the blockbuster season. But we can’t count April, or shouldn’t. So leave those “Avengers” at home. And nothing that’s … Continue reading →