Yearly Archives: 2023

This one opens June 2, and will be wrestling for the horror title with “The Blackening” for much of its run.

Iconic novel, mutli-Oscar-nominated film by Spielberg, Whoopi and Danny Glover and Oprah and yet not widely-accepted Alice Walker adaptation when it came out back in the ’80s. So let’s take another shot. Is that the new Little Mermaid in this … Continue reading →

“A Hole in the Fence” is an allegorical rendition of how the “elites” get to stay that way, generation after generation. It’s not just money which buys politicians who rewrite tax laws protecting extreme wealth. There’s a veritable cradle-to-the-grave infrastructure … Continue reading →

The Argentine farce “The Lulu Club,” titled “Papa’ al Rescate (Dad to the Rescue)” in South America, is a road trip farce that kind of gives up on the farce at the midway point. Because nothing actually funny has happened … Continue reading →

Some years back, I polled actors, filmmakers and critics for a column I was writing about “a movie that made you cry.” And a couple of people took me aback when they mentioned “The Little Mermaid.” But they were old … Continue reading →

A lot of thrillers are undone by my least favorite convention of the genre — over-explaining. When this happens in a horror movie, one that traffics in the supernatural, it just seems worse. Yeah, that thing that the natural world … Continue reading →

A cluster of sea forts await relief or the enemy in a future war. This sci fi thriller also stars Lucien Laviscount and Thomas Kretschman. “Last Sentinel” comes out June 2.

“Gringa” is an intensely likeable coming-of-age dramedy trapped in an over-reaching screenplay, an entirely-too-tidy tale that works best when it’s unkempt, scruffy and a bit crumpled. It’s built on a winning performance by Jess Gabor of TV’s “Shameless,” and features … Continue reading →

I’m guessing this could be OK, a sort of “S#*t My Italian-American Dad Says and Does,” starring DeNiro and co-starring the comic Sebastian Maniscalco, who was in “Somewhere in Queens” and “Spinning Gold” recently. It’s sort of semi-autobiographical, I guess? … Continue reading →

One way you judge classic movies is by the parts that stick with you. By that measure, I’ve long regarded “Patton” as something of a mirage, a war movie about a personality and a larger than life actor who won … Continue reading →