Monthly Archives: October 2021

The Turkish police procedural “Grudge” toys with the idea of really saying something blunt and chilling about Turkish justice, Turkish policing and the powerlessness of The People, and only loses its nerve in the third act. The ending is the … Continue reading →

Wistful, melancholy and sadly incomplete, “A Case of Blue” wanders into a new retiree’s drift into his past as a way of owning up to a present he’s checked out of. It’s a fine showcase for its stars, but a … Continue reading →

There was a stretch back in the ’90s and early 2000s when every American network sitcom did an episode or two about how to get “out of the ‘friend zone.’” So think of the French rom-com “Friendzone” as “Friends” with … Continue reading →

A tangled, convoluted and over-explained horror tale, “The Secret of Sinchanee” goes kind of wrong — dare I say it? — from its opening title. If you need a full page of credits explaining an ancient blood feud between a … Continue reading →

It’s bloody, it’s chilling, it features the voices of Richard E. Grant, Lucy Lawless, Joe Manganiello and Patton Oswalt and comes to theaters and streaming on Oct. 29, via RLJE. Lots of fanboy and fangirl — mostly fanboy — buzz … Continue reading →

“The Last Duel,” Ridley Scott’s “Rashomon,” is a brutish, well-acted and stunningly-detailed account of an infamous scandal from the supposed “Age of Chivalry.” It’s a tale of rivalries, royal favor and rape from the Caroline era of the Hundred Years … Continue reading →

“Fever Dream” is a vaguely unsettling horror parable about the ties of motherhood, tragedy and the environmental legacy we’re leaving our children. Peruvian-born writer-director Claudia Llosa, adapting Samantha Schweblin’s novel, masters the messaging and mournful tone. But the movie never … Continue reading →

This Dec. 31 musical adaptation from Joe Wright (“Atonement,” “Darkest Hour”) stars Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Ben Mendelsohn. The music? Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National did it, and there’s little here (other than Bennett’s solo) … Continue reading →

True stories of kidnappings of Westerners in the Middle East are rarely resolved with heroics. There’s little defiance by the helpless, tortured captives, rare opportunities for pithy one-liners, even if you could come up with one under such duress. The … Continue reading →

If Hollywood isn’t offering you the roles you want, the advice to screen actors always goes, “Write something for yourself.” So it was with Annika Marks, a familiar face (“The World Without You,” TV’s “Goliath,” “Waco” and “The Last Tycoon”) … Continue reading →