Monthly Archives: December 2021

I wasn’t going to review this damned movie. It was pitched as “streaming” and “coming out” this week, but it turns out it dates from 2009 and some distributor decided it’d try to wring some more cash out of it … Continue reading →

It takes a while for someone to ask the vacationing literary professor Leda the obvious question. “Are you angry? You seem angry.” Leda may be on a long vacation on a seemingly idyllic Italian isle. But she always seems on … Continue reading →

This Jan 21 release is based on a spy novel about a “document” the British PM reviled by history for “appeasement” needs to counter Adolf Hitler’s bluster and lies. There’s a too-skinny Hitler, and George Mackay (“1917”) also in the … Continue reading →

There have been legions of compelling documentaries about the harrowing nature of the refugee experience, fleeing conflict and persecution from the world’s most dangerous places. One excellent real-people/real footage film that follows a family through all it takes to escape … Continue reading →

The heist-picture/zombie apocalypse thriller “Army of the Dead” left me cold. But many others warmed to it, and now there’s a Netflix series in the offing based on it. Meanwhile, here’s the prequel that sealed that deal. “Army of Thieves” … Continue reading →

Here’s a tasty peek into the overachieving, hyper-competitive and insular world of America’s affluent Indian diaspora. “India Sweets and Spices” is a sort of “Snobby Rich Indians” comedy about a liberated activist coed coming home to the world of gossipy, … Continue reading →

“The Four of Us” is an icily clinical German dramedy about what happens when committed but unmarried couples swap partners for a month, with “no sex” as the only rule they agree to follow. When it throws them back together … Continue reading →

This Brazilian drama played at the last Sundance pre pandemic and finally earns release Jan. 14. Looks good, but maybe a little late to the “lockdown” marketplace at this point.

Longtime girlfriends can giggle and banter “You remember ‘How Stella Got Her Groove Back?’” “You remember how it ENDED?” But when it comes to “Maya and Her Lover,” we’re already thinking “She’s Gotta Have It Before She Turns 40.” The … Continue reading →

Here’s a screenwriter who’s a bit defensive about his work. At one point in “The Only One,” a picturesque romance set in the south of France, our antagonist turns on her would-be lover with this rejoinder. “I’m your Pixie Dream … Continue reading →