Monthly Archives: May 2020

A few months before “The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio” came out on film, the publisher and releasing studio (Dreamworks) sent me the book, Terry Ryan’s memoir of growing up in a dysfunctional yet functioning family in the 1950s and … Continue reading →

Don’t you just hate it when a tearjerker works? The manipulation’s built-in, understood, right there in the open for you to put up your guard against. And then…dammit. Netflix put “18 Presents (18 Regali)” on its menu just in time … Continue reading →

“Castle in the Ground” is the simplest of rescue parables. A young man devotes himself to saving his dying mother. And when that fails, this teen in shining armor starts using mom’s leftover painkillers. That’s what changes his focus to … Continue reading →

Remember AOL, AOL chat rooms and the naughtiness that could be unleashed there in the early days of the Internet? That’s what this comedy’s about. A Catholic girl getting online and in over her head.  

“Laughter in Paradise” is a British version of that “to inherit my money, here are the wacky conditions you must meet” story, the one born in the play “Seven Chances,” which Buster Keaton turned into one of the great silent … Continue reading →

Taut, tense and nerve-wracking, “Into the Night” is a European riff on the “End of Days” disaster movie formula that plays by the rules and rarely disappoints. Running on wit, grit, bigotry and the national stereotypes that have riven the … Continue reading →

It opens in late May, and as a charter member of the Rob vs Steve on a road trip fan club, I’m quarantining this farce a bit early. What will they be driving? “Stan Laurel” (whom Coogan just played) and … Continue reading →

Horror, humor, well mordant humor. That was Shirley Jackson. This right here is what we call “on-the-nose” casting. Moss conquers all, scares herself and everybody else half to death. June 5.  

“Theeb” is a Bedouin parable set against the backdrop of “Lawrence of Arabia.” I mean that literally. It was filmed in the Wadi Rum of Jordan, covering the same geography and topography that David Lean’s masterpiece captured on film. There’s … Continue reading →

“The Lift Boy” is a simple and somewhat simple-minded and archaic tale of a “spoiled” young Mumbai man who learns to appreciate the value of menial work and the rippling power of kindness — “good karma” — by taking over … Continue reading →