Monthly Archives: August 2020

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 →

“Almost Love” is one of those soapy romances set in that “fantasy” New York where broke people and the affluent mingle, and the broke, young and hip can somehow afford to live there at all. It almost works. The characters … Continue reading →

With Gawd as my witness, I swear I had never heard of “Tiptoes,” a cinematic debacle like few others. This is “The Room” packed with future Oscar winners. A “little people” comedy with Gary Oldman playing a dwarf, it was … Continue reading →

Brisco (Chris Mulkey), the commanding officer, strides into the tent of his elite multi-national commando team. “How’s it going?” he wants to know. “Sh—y, sir.” “War is hell,” he growls. Kind of what passes for a joke in the never-ending … Continue reading →