Monthly Archives: October 2021

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 →

A dark “midlife crisis” satire starring Jim Cummings, “The Beta Test” spoofs “the current climate (post #MeToo), an anonymous solicitation to a married man, and all that unleashes. It pops out Nov. 5.

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 →

“They Say Nothing Stays the Same” is a melodramatic, stately and beautiful Japanese period piece. A sedate and painterly parable about “progress,” it unfolds as a dreamy fantasy about a ferryman rowing villagers back and forth across a river in … Continue reading →

Sure is good to see a person we knew was very sick seem to get better and use public appearances as part of his “cure.” This Beach Boy Today profile comes out Nov. 19.

I was thinking about PTA’s ouvre the other day and wondering why I rarely if ever bother seeing one of his films twice. This coming of age tale, set during the Streisand/Jon Peters romance of the mid ’70s, has Bradley … Continue reading →

It takes its title from the duration of a tornado passing through an Oklahoma town — “13 Minutes.” And the twister, when it supercells its way in, is hellishly real and a damned sight better than anything managed in the … Continue reading →

The Polish comic thriller “In for a Murder” only finds its sweet spot briefly, and then only very late in the third act. Veteran writer-director Piotr Mularuk (“Zuma”) was going for something light, a frothy murder mystery which has been … Continue reading →

“The Spine of Night” is a reasonably good-looking — and gory — animated sword and sorcery saga for adults, a movie set in a wholly-realized fantasy world, but lacking a story or characters that invite us to invest ourselves in … Continue reading →