Monthly Archives: August 2021

“Raging Fire” is a Hong Kong cops go rogue thriller, par for the formula course for writer-director Benny Chan, whose resume is filled with its close kin — “New Police Story,” “Heroic Duo,” “Gen-X Cops” and “Gen-Y Cops.” But it … Continue reading →

In this age of Charlottesvilles, here and abroad, of “Jo Jo Rabbit,” “The Hitler Channel” and Trumpism, the world is “beyond the point where people have lost the meaning of (Adolf) Hitler,” one of the chorus of experts in the … Continue reading →

We all knew Aretha Franklin’s story would make an entertaining bio-musical, and “Respect” doesn’t disappoint. It’s as uplifting and ready-made for sing-alongs as any recent bio-pic, mostly because it’s just like them. Tracey Scott Wilson (“Fosse/Verdon” ) is the credited … Continue reading →

I am at my favorite non arthouse cinema, the Regal Winter Park 20, Florida flagship of the chain, a lone white boy in a sea of Aretha fans of color. Because some of us have taste. MGM is having a … Continue reading →

“The Swarm” is “Jean de Florette” meets “Little Shop of Horrors.” It’s about an idealistic, “try something new” farmer who breeds bugs, only to discover that blood is what makes them thrive. Only the French could think up this high … Continue reading →

As it’s also available on HBO Max, this is a pandemic-depressed opening weekend that shouldn’t leave Warner Brothers in the red for James Gunn’s comic book reboot. A $4.1 million Thursday night, the best Thursday night of the pandemic, Warners … Continue reading →

The year of the Sparks Brothers reaches its climax with “Annette,” a long-gestating musical created by droll rockers Ron Mael and Russell Mael. So what was their fondest wish, after 50 years of flirting with pop stardom as “critical darlings” … Continue reading →

An American watching the Dutch war parable “The East” can’t help but see it through a Vietnam War lens. This film is about European soldiers fighting a phantom enemy and battling for “hearts and minds” in Indonesia, not Southeast Asia. … Continue reading →

A family vacation goes wrong thanks to two “drifters” in this September thriller.

“A Savage Nature” sets some sort of new slow-poke standard for thrillers, a lurching stiff with no pulse to speak of. “Inspired by” a true home invasion a title tells us was in Virginia in August of 2007 (I can’t … Continue reading →