Monthly Archives: November 2020

The rise of “Stranger Things” and the revival of Stephen King’s “It” inspired “They Reach,” a horror tale/period piece in which kid are under threat, and take responsibility for their own deliverance. It’s a case study in the difference between … Continue reading →

“Commitment” is something you hope to see from actors even in a movie that might not offer the most ambitious roles, cleverest dialogue or most surprising script. Malin Akerman and Bella Thorne deliver that with every punch, kick, head-butt and … Continue reading →

As funny as a mass shooting at the North Pole, and relying on just such a finale to sell it, “Fatman” is one of the epic miscalculations of any cinematic holiday season. And I say this as somebody who adored … Continue reading →

That sparkling cast adorns a sort of It fantasy, a story that explains Alice and her Wonderland and Peter Pan and his Lost Boys. Inclusive casting should help, the effects twinkle and the story seems very…mashup messy.

Bill Nighy also stars in this account of Japan’s mercury pollution scandal that turned the city of Minamata into an international symbol of Big Polluters aided in their cover up by their government. As Depp is staring at the end … Continue reading →

The five films of Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” play like a series of sketches of what we can take to be his experiences growing up in the ’70s and early ’80s among the Caribbean islanders transplanted to the Big Island … Continue reading →

Oscar winner Steve McQueen’s terrific “Small Axe” series of five film-length inter-connected stories of life in London’s West Indian community opens on a high point with “Red, White and Blue.” It’s a generic “new to the force” cop story about … Continue reading →

Let the record reflect that Alexandra Daddario does one helluva drunk act. The “Baywatch” (the movie) babe isn’t the headliner of “1 Night in San Diego,” but she is one of the funnier highlights of this hit-or-miss “Romy and Michelle” … Continue reading →

One night, the Latvian newspaper editor and his wife are enjoying Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” where Melanie Vanaga can lose herself in its most famous aria, “Un bel dì vedremo.” The next day, Soviet security police pound on the door of … Continue reading →

Civil War movies have always been a rare thing, so I was surprised to run across “Men Go to Battle” a few years late. It came out the same year as the far more conventional “Field of Lost Shoes,” and … Continue reading →