Monthly Archives: April 2020

In Hollywood or abroad, there is but one modern immigrant narrative. It’s the horrific story of what someone went through to get “here,” wherever “here” might be. It’s a rite-of-passage story with built-in pathos and a healthy dose of “Put … Continue reading →

What lingers in the memory about “Chaplin,” Sir Richard Attenborough’s 1992 Oscar-bait biography of “The Little Tramp,” Charlie Chaplin? The decades haven’t erased the sense that “the longer it goes on, the worse it gets.” Some of the casting is … Continue reading →

Here is THE must-see documentary for a world living under quarantine. “Spaceship Earth” is about can-do cooperation, art and science coalescing, about “learning by doing” and recognizing that “small groups of people are the engines of change.” It’s about making … Continue reading →

There is no better time capsule for the outlandish, post-Bond action cinema of the ’60s than the camp comic book romp “Danger: Diabolik.” This Franco-Italian heist thriller was “Matt Helm” meets “Batman,” all lavish modernist sets and near-nudity, fake blood, … Continue reading →

The most interesting thing in “Twelve” is not what this Little League “big game” movie is all about. The boy who longs to make it to The Little League World Series has been cut from the team in the Connecticut … Continue reading →

  Releasing “Planet of the Humans” on Earth Day is either an epic piece of “bad timing,” or a solitary act of defiance in the face of everything and everyone this environmental documentary opposes. Let’s lean towards the latter. Because … Continue reading →

The “Big Game” sports movie gets some welcome Caribbean in “Sprinter,” a drama about the pitfall-filled rise of a Jamaican short-distance runner. It’s pure formula and almost pure hokum, but as everything sounds more fun in that musical Jamaican patois, … Continue reading →

It’s easy to make too much out of “the last role Felicity Huffman took before going to prison” with “Tammy’s Always Dying.” A dressed-down, alcoholic, depressed and promiscuous mother — constantly threatening suicide — and the impact that has on … Continue reading →

Ask a hundred film buffs what their favorite cult film is, and you’ll get 500 answers. Because nobody wants to limit that pick to the obvious — “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Harold & Maude,” “Eraserhead” — to admit how … Continue reading →

Molly Sims is the right Missy. Lauren Lupkus is “The Wrong Missy.” David Spade is back? Thanks, Netflix. May 13.