Monthly Archives: June 2021

Here is a curated selection of the ways the avenging hitman/enforcer they call “Maximo” dispatches his foes in “Xtreme (Extremo).” There’re knives, pistols, assault rifles and a samurai sword, a nail gun, a car lift, a VW Golf and the … Continue reading →

This looks adorbs.

Beloved character actors can become a movie-lover’s idea of a perpetual underdog, somebody we root for. So it is for me with Tobin Bell. The one and only “Jigsaw” has at last escaped the “Saw” series. But it’s a shame … Continue reading →

The chef and traveler is the subject of this July release from Focus Features. https://youtu.be/ihEEjwRlghQ

“It’s Not a Burden” interviews scores of parents being cared for, in various ways and in varying degrees, by their adult children. It’s a documentary collage of caregiving showcasing the relationships that endure, even if “the roles have reversed” and … Continue reading →

How can a movie set in Brazil’s Carnival, the colorful, hedonistic Bacchanal held in the days leading up to every Ash Wednesday — unless there’s a global pandemic — come off as drab as “Carnaval?” Colorful costumes, fruity drinks, gaudy … Continue reading →

Blades and fists break out in this tiny Tokyo cafe named…Hydra. July 2 the brawl breaks out on streaming.

A couple of things brought this 1950 movie to mind before it popped up on “Sunday Night Noir” a few days ago. The first was Jeff Bezos over-paying for MGM and its vast library. Film libraries used to be more … Continue reading →

The cheerful, generous employment of vintage second-gen video game graphics and a broad, goofy Nickelodeon/Disney Channel comedy touch are what the makers of the indie film “Hero Mode” hoped to skate by with. They don’t quite pull it off, but … Continue reading →