Monthly Archives: June 2021

The stately, intimate and pictorially perfect “Center Stage” was Hong Kong filmmaker Stanley Kwan’s “Citizen Kane” styled experiment in screen biography. He set out to tell the tragic story of a legend of early Chinese cinema, a starlet whose beauty … Continue reading →

The Hollywood shorthand we remember as “high concept,” a “pitch” you could squeeze into a single sentence, reached its zenith in the 1980s. As SOME of us never gave it up, let’s trot it out to describe Apple’s new ’80s … Continue reading →

A decent gimmick and half an idea for a movie surrounding it bedevil “Songs for a Sloth,” a coping-with-loss comedy that — pardon me — just hangs there. There are entirely too many “slowly” jokes to squander on a single … Continue reading →

Alex Wolff, Adam Arkin and a blast from your “Rockford Files” past, Gretchen Corbett co-star in this July 16 “Truffle Hunters” riff. Kudos for getting this out so soon after the doc that was about dogs that seek the tasty … Continue reading →

Zoe Lister Jones, Olivia Wilde, Fred Armisen and Oscar winner Helen Hunt star in this deadpan “Last Day on Earth” comedy.

The burning question, carried over from each “Rogue Warfare” thriller to the next, is “Are they getting better?” Is “Rogue Warfare: Death of a Nation,” the best yet? The reasons the sequels exist are still here — cheap, desert southwest … Continue reading →

The phrase, “You look like the ghost of a Victorian prostitute” could only mean one thing. “Downton Abbey” is BACK! Actually, it’s the second season of “Flack,” star Anna Paquin‘s PR version of “Nurse Jackie,” a show with a drug … Continue reading →

It’s nigh on impossible to single out highlights from the joyously upbeat concert film, “Summer of Love (…Or When the Revolution Could NOT be Televised).” Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. sit, in tears, as they see their performance with … Continue reading →

“The Birthday Cake” is a lurid, blood-and-marinara-soaked mob movie, another tale of “this neighborhood’s changing” thanks to shifting demographics and an aging mafioso losing his grip. It’s also a coming-of-age story about a kid who wasn’t tough the first time … Continue reading →

Disney/Pixar’s animated “Luca” is “The Little Mermaid” without the heart, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” without the laughs. It’s a dull if gorgeous-looking time-killer aimed at a very young and undemanding audience, perhaps not too young to ask “Mom, … Continue reading →