Monthly Archives: November 2020

We always knew how Bruce Willis would spend his celebrity dotage — Shakespeare in the Park, maybe a spirited farewell tour as “Bruno” with his band. OK, maybe we didn’t. But seeing him in — BARELY in — C-movies like … Continue reading →

For my money, the best action picture on Netflix right now is a grim combat thriller set in the bombed-out ruins of the Iraqi city, “Mosul.” It’s an intimate “Blackhawk Down” meets “Saving Private Ryan” tale of a mission and … Continue reading →

A friend pointed me to an Internet appreciation of this “lost” 1972 Terrence Malick-scripted road comedy, a movie partially-filmed in a city where I used to live — Knoxville, Tennessee. “Deadhead Miles” is a loosely-organized, largely-improvised long-haul trucking tale that … Continue reading →

“Everything is copy,” the late novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker Nora Ephron preached. Anything that happens to you or someone you know, everything that you overhear — fair game for a creative person. Especially one who’s “blocked.” That might describe Allison, … Continue reading →

Netflix has this cute, woke activist Ryan Murphy musical comedy.

Sometimes, you have to wonder if anybody in Netflix acquisitions even bothers to look over a lot of the junk they buy. Sometimes, you realize that content providers know this and slide quick-and-junky projects in under the door that way. … Continue reading →

He’s pretty, she’s prettier, a gorgeous under-filmed Pacific isle location, a true story about a tradition of service members doing humanitarian work — “Operation Christmas Drop” has all the ingredients of a lightweight Christmas romance of the “fun for the … Continue reading →

“Just What We Wanted” is a compact and quietly compelling German drama about a couple teetering towards a break-up because of their desperate desire to have a child. Ulrike Kofler’s film, based on a Peter Stamm short story, wrestles with … Continue reading →

County music icon and national treasure Dolly Parton’s having a moment, thanks to being a paragon of tolerance and exemplar of COVID vaccine philanthropy. So there’s no being churlish about her new holiday Netflix musical, “Christmas on the Square.” None. … Continue reading →

What insipid, digitally-augmented elvish drivel is this? Rhetorical question, like asking “Who let the Dogs Out?” Because unimaginative kids’ comedy would be complete without A) a belch or two, B) fart jokes and C) a “zany” montage set to that … Continue reading →