Monthly Archives: June 2022

I know it’s “only a sequel,” and “only” a children’s animated film at that. But “Minions: The Rise of Gru” is a movie of manic, demented genius. It’s a slapsticky/witty, action-and-sight-gag-packed romp of a popcorn movie, a film that delivers … Continue reading →

I’ve always had a soft spot for Beavis and Butt-Head. Or maybe that was just the Dulcolax doing its job. But here they are, 29 years after their MTV debut, moronically sniggering and slap fighting their way through their second … Continue reading →

This Swiss co-production features teens making bad decisions, using each other and abusing social media and (when they’re in the picture) their parents. I rather liked “Lovecut,” which narrowly avoids the label “exploitation” in its portrayal of the shortsighted, irresponsible … Continue reading →

Elvis comes to mind whilst watching the shoot-em-up “Code Name Banshee.” “A little less conversation, a little more action, please,” he’d sing. “All this aggravation ain’t satisfactioning me. A little more bite, a little less bark…” After a couple of … Continue reading →

When it comes to cult films, ours is not to reason why they gain that status. Ours is but to shrug and marvel that this rare phenomenon has occurred, again, and perhaps laugh or cringe along with the cultists, which … Continue reading →

The acting is underwhelming, the sound is tinny and off-mike and the script isn’t the least bit subtle about shoving exploitive nudity and lesbian sex into the lurid Lovecraft thriller, “H.P. Lovecraft’s Witch House.” So, amateurish? Hell yes. But the … Continue reading →

You glance at the poster or the DVD cover for “ScarfFace” and you figure “Ah, a new edition to the DePalma/Pacino Cuban gangster epic” is out. “Say ‘allo to my leetle friend” and all that. And then you see the … Continue reading →

“Sniper” movies are a combat genre all their own thanks to the fatal attraction of the loners — usually two-person teams — who do the work, hit-men or women in uniform, a one-or-two-shooter “surgical strike.” Many a first-person shooter video … Continue reading →

The most perilous minefield in the movies might be daring to explore teen sexuality on screen. Raunchy farces use the cover of comedy, because everybody knows taking this subject seriously risks crossing the line into straight-up exploitation. And whatever notoriety … Continue reading →

“Good Madam” is a tight, lightly-chilling horror tale from South Africa, a parable of a housekeeper and what “life in service” can mean, in a supernatural sense, in the former Apartheid state. And how this relatively simple story has twelve … Continue reading →