Monthly Archives: August 2021

This opened in the UK during the pandemic (Streamed?) and finally gets a US release Sept. 17.

Melissa McCarthy is in mourning, and a damned starling is ruining her garden and her life. Chris O’Dowd raises the bar, playing the spouse of this broken relationship. And Oscar winner Kevin Kline lends grand seriocomic support. This looks like … Continue reading →

A “Chinatown on the Cheap” tale of a missing teen, gangland shenanigans, water rights, the works, all uncovered by a “special ops” (the hoariest trope in action cinema) veteran. Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss, Paul Sloan, Taryn Manning, Jake Webber and … Continue reading →

The plot has been around since Shakespeare sold out to Netflix. Guy courts woman, or vice versa, based on a dare, a bet or some other “arrangement.” It’s a “Taming of the Shrew” variation, whether it’s “Cruel Intentions” or “Ten … Continue reading →

He died in 1995, but there’s plenty of evidence that PBS painting show star Bob Ross is as popular as ever. For starters, the reruns of the 30 series of “Joy of Painting” that he did for the network are … Continue reading →

This one opens in Italy before it hits North America on Oct.1. Tim Blake Nelson in the title role? I’m there.

“HipBeat” opens with docudrama scenes of European protest and solemn voice-over narration. “No one is free if others are oppressed,” the aptly-named “Angy” (short for Angus) intones. We’re “being lied to…capitalism ruined democracy…These police, they’re only here to protect capitalism.” … Continue reading →

I’ve seen and reviewed a few Robinson Crusoes over the years. Aidan Quinn was in a good one, Pierce Brosnan did another. “The Wild Life” was a cartoon version that came out in 2016. Georges Melies made it one of … Continue reading →

“The Old Ways” is an intriguing Mexican twist on the exorcism thriller. It imagines a demonic possession diagnosed and treated in “the old ways” in a remote corner of the culture that’s more tribal than Spanish, more pagan than Catholic. … Continue reading →

Fun fact, “Vacation Friends” was set up as a comedy to star the then-married Anna Faris and Chris Pratt — back in 2014. Was that even its first incarnation? The point is, this pitch was funny enough to make the … Continue reading →