Monthly Archives: August 2020

A Netflix series about the first mission to Mars, with a multinational crew, perilous obstacles and the cost to those back home. Josh Charles also stars in this Sept. 4 Netflix release.

A throwback B-movie about Tommies trying to make it to the evac zone, where Kenneth Branagh, the Royal Navy and “The Little Ships” could whisk them to safety. Look for “Behind the Line: Escape to Dunkirk” Aug. 17.

  “The Pool” is terror at its most primal, a simple Thai thriller that’s complex in its simplicity. The situation? A guy finds himself trapped in a deep, now-drained and abandoned Olympic sized swimming pool. There is no ladder to … Continue reading →

I hadn’t seen the low-budget black and white “original” “The Fast and the Furious” since catching it in a college film society way back when. And eight movies into the Vin Diesel franchise — with “F9” pushed back to next … Continue reading →

Imagine “Ghost” without the potter’s wheel, no Demi-Patrick heat — no Whoopi and no “whoopie.” That’s “Endless,” a teen romance about love that endures past an untimely death, an entirely tepid affair, thanks to a romance that is more photogenic … Continue reading →

A Broadway bust heads home to Wisconsin, where coaching a little girls’ dance squad in a big national competition just might be her ticket back to New York in “Feel the Beat,” a family-friendly comedy that has its moments. True, … Continue reading →

That Jay Baruchel. Such a nice boy. Voice of the “How to Train Your Dragon” Viking, lovable guy who knows “She’s Out of My League.” Canadian. A real mensch. But let’s leave as much of that behind as possible for … Continue reading →

There was a time, children, when movie stars were truly larger than life, when deals could be made from hungover breakfast meetings at Cannes and when the movies that emerged from that “system” were as appealing as afterbirth, and about … Continue reading →

“Spree” is another tale of socially-isolated/socially-networked lives of quiet desperation gone haywire, a commentary on an amoral age when it’s all about “getting noticed,” no matter how you do it. As a technical exercise in filmmaking within a small space, … Continue reading →

  In 2017, the silent melodrama “Shiraz: A Romance of India” earned a restoration by the British Film Institute. It’s what you got when a German director tackled a British script based on an Indian historical romance play back in … Continue reading →