Monthly Archives: August 2019

You can’t help but notice Disney’s mission creep as it dives deeper into the Marvel business, the gold mine that has made the studio forgo pretty much everything else — save for remaking their animated classics as “live action” (not … Continue reading →

For the first time in eight years, Netflix lost subscribers last quarter. Over 130,000 dropped them as the service lost popular series like “The Office” and “Friends.” As others say, “That’s just the beginning.” As in, expect the streaming service … Continue reading →

For an 80 minute movie, “Wicked Witches,” retitled from the ever-so-British “The Witches of Dumpling Farm,” certainly does dawdle along. I had all but despaired of it ever getting up and running long before its nervy, stomach-churning chase and finale. … Continue reading →

There is comfort and little risk in rooting for sports superpowers — the Patriots, Manchester Uniteds, Dukes and Alabamas of this world. But when there is no struggle there is no pathos. And in rooting, when there is no risk, … Continue reading →

Period piece? Accents? British football? Collectible British cars in the background? Come on. You had me at “Bromley.”

Donovan’s classic is remade for this horror movie, produced by Guillermo del Toro and not previewed for critics. It opens Friday. https://variety.com/2019/music/news/lana-del-rey-season-of-the-witch-guillermo-del-toro-1203292435/

Whatever virtues it displayed on the printed page, “The Art of Racing in the Rain” makes a movie of modest, melodramatic pleasures, mainly homey aphorisms about motor racing and the hidden life of dogs. As these are growled out by … Continue reading →

The opening to “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” will give anybody who parented in the early 2000s flashbacks, and any kid who grew up then the warm fuzzies. We’re treated to that catchy theme song, a real-not-animated little … Continue reading →

It’s like panning for gold, this business of rummaging through a summer’s indie releases, looking for a nugget in a cinema season that produces blockbusters, and little else. But here’s one. “Every Time I Die” is the best no-budget thriller … Continue reading →

An August period piece crime gang wars thriller? That’s good counter programming, I say. Good trip of leading ladies && Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss. A woman directed it, so Domhnall Gleeson is the potential underworld love interest. … Continue reading →