Monthly Archives: March 2020

Boy, you settle in for an easy-going feel-good sports drama, and “The Grizzlies” is what you get instead. It’s got lump-in-the-throat, feel-good moments, sure. But the stakes could not be higher in this Canadian production. It begins with a suicide, … Continue reading →

“The Way Back” is a dull if somewhat likable nothing of a sports melodrama. It offers a “My character got sober, just like me” story arc for Ben Affleck to talk about on the chat shows. And good for him. … Continue reading →

“Daft” and “twee” are such hard tones to manage in a farce. But setting it in Ireland gives you a wee bit of a head start. “Extra Ordinary” is an Irish ghost-busting comedy featuring Will Forte as an American ex-pat … Continue reading →

Dolly Parton’s corner of the East Tennessee woods — and mountains and hollers — has benefited from her largesse over the decades. In April, a documentary about one such act of philanthropy makes it to theaters.

Not sure if this “Hoosiers” ish high school basketball will do anything for Affleck. No reviews up, hiding it until the last minute. That worked for “Invisible Man.” Is this another late winter sleeper? Let’s see.

“Beasts of the Southern Wild” writer-director Benh Zeitlin gained glory, honors ( three Oscar nominations) and filmmaking capital from that 2012 indie jewel. And he knew just what he wanted to spend that capital on. He’d make his version of … Continue reading →

Haley Bennett lays it all out there in “Swallow,” a quietly disturbing, hard-to-watch psychological drama about an unhappy woman in a controlling marriage whose unhappiness manifests itself in the compulsive disorder, pica. And even if this dark film hunts for … Continue reading →

A new apartment, a suicide cult connection. Looks wacky and dark, with Taika Waititi, Kate Micucci and other proven laughs in the cast. Finally earning release?

Olivia Coleman Maya Rudolph and you recognized Danny McBride as adult voices in the trailer for this Sept. animated comedy. A family road trip to bond with the cell addict daughter as she starts college, interrupted by future tech. Note … Continue reading →

What an unalloyed delight “Emma.” is. As “Emma” always is, and indeed, as most Jane Austen adaptations are. Unless you try to add zombies. This time, Anya Taylor-Joy of “Thoroughbreds” and “Glass” has the title role, and turns her big … Continue reading →