Monthly Archives: October 2021

“Hypnotic” isn’t the first movie about hypnosis and murder. That would be “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” which hit theaters back in 1920. And it’s not the worst, which has too many candidates to choose just one “winner.” But while … Continue reading →

If you have cable, streaming or broadcast HDTV access to The Western Channel or Grit, Movies! and the like you’re never far removed from stumbling across the work of Anthony Mann, an auteur in the “man’s man” movies corner of … Continue reading →

With “Last Night in Soho,” Edgar Wright takes us back to the oft-romanticized “Swinging London” of the 1960s for the year’s most striking thriller, another jewel in the crown of star Anya Taylor-Joy, the anime-eyed “It girl” du jour. It’s … Continue reading →

Yes, “Last Darkness” almost came out in 2017. Or was it 2018, 2019 or 2020? And it used to be titled “Last Broken Darkness.” But let’s weigh in on it because I never tire of putting that broken record I … Continue reading →

I’ve never visited Indonesia, but traveling “Around the World with Netflix” I’ve developed a picture of what life might be like in the conservative, Islamic Asian nation. It might not be an accurate portrait, but the Netflix films, chaste romances … Continue reading →

Vintage footage, archival recordings and “dramatic recreations” aim to give us an intimate and revealing portrait of the Cinema’s First True Superstar. This gets a limited theatrical release and pops up on Showtime Dec. 11.

“Stuck Together (Huit Rue de l’Humanite)” is a hit-and-miss French farce about a Paris apartment building’s efforts to cope with the COVID lockdown. Packed with characters and co-scripted by its co-stars, director and comedian Danny Boon and his life partner, … Continue reading →

The edgiest stuff in “Joy Ride,” the comic and filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait‘s new doc about the mid-election year, front-end-of-the pandemic stand-up tour that old friends Bobcat and “Simpsons” writer and stand-up Dana Gould undertook, might be Bobcat remembering his feud … Continue reading →

Hand it to “Antlers” director and co-screenwriter Scott Cooper. The guy who finally landed Jeff Bridges his Oscar (“Crazy Heart”) and tried to win Johnny Depp one (“Black Mass”) delivers the goriest horror movie to make it to theaters this … Continue reading →

“Heart of Champions” is a “big game” sports drama, a formula picture peopled with character “types,” many with “secrets” that are obstacles that the hero/heroes must overcome to triumph. It’s set in the world of college rowing, “crew,” the province … Continue reading →