Yearly Archives: 2023

Screen adaptations of popular Broadway comedies were all the rage during the ’60s, as the cinema struggled to figure out what to do to break the grip of TV. Most of them, even the hits (Neil Simon’s shows), aren’t aging … Continue reading →

What a daft and twee thing “Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose” is. And God help anybody trying to market this dry, eccentric comedy built around the charms of Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver, Christopher Lloyd and sci-fi author Neil Gaiman … Continue reading →

The many melodramatic touches would almost certainly have marred my experience of “The Fallen Bridge,” had this mystery thriller been a formulaic Hollywood product. But it’s Chinese — VERY Chinese — and that adds layers of meaning to even mundane … Continue reading →

A solid Helen Mirren turn in the title role gets lost in a choppy narrative and haze of cigarette smoke in “Golda,” a bio-pic about Israel’s controversial but (apparently) far-sighted prime minister during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The film … Continue reading →

Tom Wolfe coined a Fitzgerald worth of phrases as he defined his era, the 60s through the early 2000s. He changed how we think of hippies, astronauts, New Yorkers, Wall Streeters, rich Southerners and, thanks to his dapper, larger than … Continue reading →

“The Running Man” is a heavy-handed 1960s crime-and-greed parable that has nothing to do with the 1980s Richard Bachman (Stephen King) novel or the Schwarzenegger film made from that. This version is most interesting because it’s built around a superbly-sinister … Continue reading →

The characters are self-decribed “archetypal cliches” fated to die “long, drawn out deaths.” And as they’re horror fans often commenting on the conventions of the genre, it’s safe to label “Killer Book Club” what it is — a Spanish “Scream” … Continue reading →

This September 15 release is based on the true story of a Luchador “exotico,” a “heel” (designated villain, usually, in US wrestling terms) who performs in drag, and becomes wildly popular in a macho and by reputation homophobic culture. The … Continue reading →

Not every B-movie getaway thriller has the ambition to aim for something existentialist/absurdist in its plot, so a deep bow and a tip of the hat to filmmaker Isaac H. Eaton — using a story idea of Daniel Devoto — … Continue reading →

Whatever its perceived shortcomings upon its 1958 release (1960 in the U.S.), “The Man Inside” offers plenty of delights for the classic film buff of today. It’s got veteran screen heavy Jack Palance, cast against type as a drawling, wisecracking … Continue reading →