Monthly Archives: June 2021

“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 →

Mid July from UnCork’d.

Has there ever been a World War II classic that starts as clumsily as “A Walk on the Sun?” Corny ballad with printed sing-along lyrics, a poorly-faked landing craft voyage that never gives you any sense that the GIs on … Continue reading →

About “The Serpent,” the spy thriller scripted, directed and starring model Gia Skova. Every other filmmaker who has had her or his finished movie described as “incoherent” or “makes no sense at all” is owed an apology after this. “The … Continue reading →

A Central American thriller leaning more on mood than thrills, “Tragic Jungle (Selva trágica)” plays like an Edgar Allan Poe tale adapted by Joseph Conrad. It’s a “Heart of Darkness” jungle story with a supernatural threat, a kidnapped woman whose … Continue reading →

June 25, we find out if the laughs are scary or of the frights are hilarious.

Taylor Paige (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Riley Keough cut loose, let it all hang out and shake their money-makers, with Elvis’s granddaughter trying to out-Black Paige’s title character, culturally-appropriating slang, tone, the works. June 30, this film fest darling … Continue reading →

Obscurant, trippy and more “Shakespeare Adjacent” than an adaptation of “Hamlet” or its tragic female lead, “Finding Ophelia” is one of the more visually-arresting misfires you’ll encounter on the big screen. The acting is so wooden (line readings in particular) … Continue reading →

This has “Terminator” time travel and news of an “Independence Day” level alien threat from the future. “The Tomorrow War,” directed by Lego pic vet Chris McKay, comes to Amazon Prime Video July 2. https://youtu.be/RQjEbkV-9ZM