Monthly Archives: October 2020

What a bizarre, loopy and over-the-top environmental justice drama “The Devil has a Name” is. It’s pitched like a fable, with vampy, larger-than-life villainy, outragous, out-in-the-open crimes and intimidation, a plucky “little man” hero and a crusading lawyer who has … Continue reading →

For film buffs, the short and acidic 1943 thriller “Journey Into Fear” is more fun for the argument it sets up than the 68 minutes presented on the screen. Orson Welles helped script it, took a beefy supporting role — … Continue reading →

Ach du lieber! Oct. 23 on Netflix.

Few movies grab the lonely, lost and timeless suck of freshman year at college as well as “Shithouse,” the debut feature of writer, director and co-star Cooper Raiff. It’s a sweet, sensitive and amusing run through what being a freshman … Continue reading →

Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Common, Ana de Armas and Clive Owen star in this version of the undercover ex con goes back to prison thriller. November.

“Yucatán” is a colorful, cute Spanish con artist comedy set on a cruise ship. But like even the most entertaining cruise vacations, it is stuffed with long, dull passages in between destinations. Overly complex, and layered with musical production numbers … Continue reading →

The cleverest thing about the laugh-every-two-minutes comedy “John Bronco” is that nobody involved tried to stretch this extended sketch of an idea into feature film length. It’s just 38 minutes of everybody’s favorite vice principal, Walton Goggins, he-man drawling, preening … Continue reading →

Actor turned director Justin Baldoni, best known for TV’s “Jane the Virgin,” has staked out a unique corner of filmdom as his behind-the-camera specialty. Dude makes weepers. “Five Feet Apart” on the big screen, the doc- series “My Last Days,” … Continue reading →

A true story, a February movie musical.

If you’re missing “The Good Lord Bird” on Showtime, you’re missing one of the epic TV events of the fall. Ethan Hawke and Mark Richard’s seven episode take on James McBride’s picaresque novel about the run-up to the Civil War, … Continue reading →