Yearly Archives: 2023

Oh to be a tweenage girl with access to Disney+ this weekend. “The Slumber Party” is a brisk, breezy and often-amusing riff on that old fashioned teen and pre-teen ritual, the last sleepover of summer. Well-cast, with some properly snarky … Continue reading →

Fans of the famed Disney “Haunted Mansion” will pick up on all sorts of easter eggs and visual nods to the theme park attraction — sets, gimmicks, props, etc. — in the new film based on a beloved piece of … Continue reading →

The great character actor Ron Perlman has his best big screen role in many years in “The Baker,” a thoroughly satisfying two-fisted B-movie carved out of classics of the genre and carried on the broad, brooding shoulders of “The Perl.” … Continue reading →

“Love Tactics” was a Turkish rom-com that borrowed from a lot of Hollywood films of the “Failure to Launch” variety for a showcase of some of the most beautiful actors in Turkish cinema. You know the drill — the guy … Continue reading →

A D-Day veteran and “90 year old coffin dodger” leaves his nursing home and great love for a trip to Normandy to pay tribute to fallen comrades. A true story — you might remember this sidebar inspired from when President … Continue reading →

One, two three four…slash-mark to denote “five.” That’s what a B-movie shoot-em-up often invites you to do, just keep track of the body count. Six, seven, eight, nine, another slashmark — “TEN.” “Shrapnel” is a straight-up “They’ve taken my daughter” … Continue reading →

This indie Franco-African thriller about a refugee finding a criminal from her homeland now employed as a Catholic priest rolls out in limited release at the end of August and first of Sept.

And now for something completely unpleasant. “Night Explorers: The Asylum” is about streaming channel extrepreneurs who encounter more than they bargained for when they visit “the most haunted place on Earth.” OK, they’ve probably used that hype line more than … Continue reading →

The stuff I’ll sit through for a little primo surfing footage, an Aussie accent or three and Temuera Morrison going bloody psycho killer on everybody. “Sons of Summer” is a sentimental “surfie” bros tribute trip tale that crashes up against … Continue reading →

This quirky country life close encounter comedy co stars Jane Curtin, Zoë Winters and the delightful Harriet Samson Harris of “Frasier.” Bleecker Street has this Marc Turtletaub comedy slated for Aug.11 release.