Monthly Archives: December 2020

There are outtakes at the end of “Skylines,” aka “Skylin3s,” cast members crack up at all the silly, pithy, cliche one-liners common to the sci-fi action genre. That’s fitting, because there’s no sterner test than keeping a straight face while … Continue reading →

In “Tiger Within” Edward Asner plays a Holocaust survivor who takes an interest in and eventually takes in a runaway, a Midwestern teen punk who drew a swastika on her leather jacket for shock effect. The product of a broken … Continue reading →

They’ve sunk everything they have into their latest “fixer upper.” It’s a big, remote manor house in Spain, and it’s their biggest project, if not their first. But their angel-faced son Eric (Lucas Blas) is spooked. His toys are switching … Continue reading →

Wait, didn’t “Ip Man: The Finale” come out just last year? Ip Man, that martial artist who never fails, the movie hero with more farewell tours than Cher, is back for “Ip Man : Kung Fu Master,” a solid set … Continue reading →

Alicia Silverstone has her best big screen role in ages in “Sister of the Groom,” a “big fat Jewish wedding” comedy in which she has the title role, but which she apparently had to soldier through in the last stages … Continue reading →

The voice is one long never-sobered-up slur, and the appearance — wheelchair-bound, face in need of spittle, spilled-booze or what-have-you removal — frighteningly like another modern icon. Can it be that Irish singer singer, songwriter Shane MacGowan come has come … Continue reading →

Every year a Top Ten film list is an exercise in memory, judgement calls and hair-splitting. A critic wanders the wilderness of four cinematic seasons like Diogones with his ancient Greek lantern, searching for “an honest man,” or in our … Continue reading →

It’s about time the French got around to their own “Step Up” movie. Not that they credited the American creators of those movies or built “Break” to be a part of what we’d call the “Step Up Universe.” So here … Continue reading →

“Hunter Hunter” is a nasty little piece of work, a thriller that points us in obvious directions and takes its time getting to its destination. But nasty. If the object of horror is “to horrify,” this predators-become-prey tale delivers and … Continue reading →

They’re on the road, uprooted but resilient, migrating with the seasons, following work or just avoiding the bitter cold or murderous heat. But don’t call them “homeless.” “I’m not homeless,” “Nomadland” van-dweller Fern, played by Oscar winner Frances McDormand, explains … Continue reading →