Monthly Archives: November 2021

We tend to lump all of the musicals of Hollywood’s Golden Age into one warm memory. But of course there were lesser lights — forgotten gems — and big budget blunders, like “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” A … Continue reading →

A pull-out-all-the-cliches and throw in a few on-the-nose new ones script leaves Halle Berry’s directing debut, “Bruised,” a split decision. As a showcase for the fittest 55 year-old in the cinema, one who masters fight choreography and is (mostly) convincing … Continue reading →

This one doesn’t go for laughs or pathos (“Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” was featured in a more moving earlier trailer). But Christmas Day, all the kids will still want to sing along with…Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett … Continue reading →

The end, when it comes, is never pretty. But can it be a thing of beauty? That’s an unspoken premise of “So Late So Soon,” a portrait of two kind of cute/kind of quarrelsome Chicago artists as they close in … Continue reading →

“Hobbit” filmmaker Peter Jackson invites his fellow “kids” into the candy store of Beatles archives for “The Beatles: Get Back,” a film compiled from the mountains of documentary footage shot as the band scrambled to make an album in London … Continue reading →

Well, if nothing else, Vanessa Hudgens seems to be having a blast with these “Princess Switch” holiday movies for Netflix. As the original and sequels have rolled out, she’s been called on to not just play a Chicago baker who … Continue reading →

Perhaps only Ryûsuke Hamaguchi could take a short story by one of Japan’s most acclaimed writers, Haruki Murakami, and get a three hour movie out of it. But no one who saw his “Happy Hour” would be shocked at the … Continue reading →

Lily James and Sebastian Stan lose themselves in the pre-Kardashians “reality” couple of choice. “Baywatch” babe Pamela Anderson and rocker and tattoo template Tommy Lee dominated the tabloids for all the wrong reasons, and paved the way for sex tape … Continue reading →

“Agnes” begins as a droll but otherwise conventional troubled-priest-brought-in-for-an-exorcism thriller, a darkly comic take on Catholicism, demonic possession in the age of psychobabble and “the shame of the Church,” and we all know what THAT is. But the fourth feature … Continue reading →

What in Holy Hunan is this? A Chinese animated comedy about dashing dim sum, samurai sushi and nervy noodles facing down the evil, stinky Lord Octopus? “Kung Food” is a Chinese import based on a Chinese TV series that plays … Continue reading →