Monthly Archives: January 2022

BOX OFFICE: “Scream” may clear $30 million, snow and sleet be damned

A bracing opening weekend for Paramount’s reboot of “Scream,” which is coasting on a pre-snowstorm $30.6 million, $35 million over the MLK holiday projected opening. It did well under $4 million Thursday night, but a big $13 million Friday pointed … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on BOX OFFICE: “Scream” may clear $30 million, snow and sleet be damned

Movie Review: “Old Strangers” reunite for a Creature Feature

“Old Strangers,” a thriller awkwardly resembling a “creature feature,” and even more awkwardly labeled a “thriller,” falls somewhere on the student film/relatives-wrote-me-checks-so’s-I-could-make-a-movie spectrum of ineptitude. The fact that it’s listed as the third film, stretching back over 15 years, of … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Movie Review: “Old Strangers” reunite for a Creature Feature

Classic Film Review: The Michael Caine that Got Away — “A Shock to the System (1990)”

It came and it went, without most anyone noticing. “A Shock to the System,” a deliciously dark comedy in a minor, murderous key, is one of the many minor gems on Michael Caine’s cinema resume. But what those of us … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Classic Film Review: The Michael Caine that Got Away — “A Shock to the System (1990)”

Today’s DVD Donation? Is “Sobo” up for “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy?”

Today’s Roger DVDseed donation — in which I donate a disc to a public library I pass by, spreading fine cinema across America, one disc at a time — is a movie I just reviewed, now on BluRay via Film … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Today’s DVD Donation? Is “Sobo” up for “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy?”

Netflixable? A Dominatrix is dead? Alyssa Milano’s on the case, and “Brazen” about it

We’ve figured out where the murder mystery/thriller “Brazen” is going long before our heroine finds herself in the presence of the murderer in the “explain it all” talk talk talk finale. Truth be told, there aren’t a lot of surprises … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Netflixable? A Dominatrix is dead? Alyssa Milano’s on the case, and “Brazen” about it

Classic Film Review: Is “Slap Shot (1977)” still “The Greatest Sports Movie” of them all?

It’s been accepted wisdom for much of my adult life that “Slap Shot” is “the greatest sports movie of all time.” A rude, bloody and irreverent 1970s story of minor league hockey, it was the last time director George Roy … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Classic Film Review: Is “Slap Shot (1977)” still “The Greatest Sports Movie” of them all?

Movie Review: Paths taken and not taken, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Gûzen to sôzô) “

With all the awards season attention coming to Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” it’s worth catching up with his earlier films, if nothing else to see how his style evolved in a way that emphasized patience, the “slow cinema” that … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Movie Review: Paths taken and not taken, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Gûzen to sôzô) “

Movie Preview: Mel Gibson plays a “black out drunk” actor accused of murder in “Last Looks”

We all know who and what Mel Gibson is, has been and can be. There’s a reason he was “canceled” and shows up in C-movies and bit parts in Bs like this one. I take something more like a Jodie … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Movie Preview: Mel Gibson plays a “black out drunk” actor accused of murder in “Last Looks”

Movie Review: Pierce Brosnan is Louis XIV with Kaya Scodelario as “The King’s Daughter”

“The King’s Daughter,” a lush and lavish period piece based on the Nebula Award-inning novel “The Moon and the Sun,” is a film with its own history. You don’t have to have ever heard anything about the production to get … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Movie Review: Pierce Brosnan is Louis XIV with Kaya Scodelario as “The King’s Daughter”

Netflixable? Saints preserve us, it’s “Riverdance: The Animated Adventure”

There’s a fine line between blarney and balderdash. Actually, there isn’t. But I’m just trying to have a little pity for the folks who made “Riverdance: The Animated Adventure.” It’s an absurd, strained and seriously unfunny animated comedy that shows … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | 2 Comments