Monthly Archives: January 2023

Mr. “Midsommar/Hereditary” Ari Aster has a paranoid new comedy opening April 24. Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Patti Lupone and Parker Posey star in this hallucinogenic hostage farce. It looks nuts.

Once upon a time, at the tale end of the Golden Age of the Spaghetti Western, a couple of canny Italian producers and directors figured out that at home and abroad, a big chunk of the audience for those oddball … Continue reading →

This thriller, opening Friday, looks better than we took it to be on first blush. I mean, the lack of effort on the title isn’t encouraging. Unless…it’s a PUN. Get that “Plane” on a plane and let it ride the … Continue reading →

Actor turned writer-director Jesse Eisenberg‘s feature directing debut turns out to be just the sort of film you’d expect from the “Social Network/Now You See Me” star. “When You Finish Saving the World” is smart and articulate. It’s flippant. There’s … Continue reading →

It’s called “The Most Dangerous Game” and it is the most overused, beaten-to-death thriller plot of all. I’ve reviewed scores of these “Man…is the most DANGEROUS game” to hunt thrillers. And I’m wholly prepared to call this heartless, pulse-free corpse … Continue reading →

What, again with the incantations, the pentagrams, the “protective circle” of ashes? Another ancient text turns to flames when you say the wrong thing? Another horned demon skittering up the walls? Oy! “The Offering” is a New York Jewish trip … Continue reading →

The movies that matter in your life burn into the memory that first encounter with them.I saw “Chariots of Fire” at a preview in Charlotte, N.C., with local college and high school track teams in attendance, at a now long-closed … Continue reading →

Projections from Deadline and others were that “Avatar” would fall under $40 million this weekend, that “M3GAN” would open under $30, that “Puss in Boots” would manage about $10 and that “A Man Called Otto” wouldn’t clear $4. All of … Continue reading →

“Under Her Control” is a surrogacy-gone-wrong thriller wrapped in a “Devil Wears Prada” package. This Spanish melodrama starts slowly and lumbers towards a Big Finish that isn’t nearly big enough to atone for the tedium that precedes it. First-time feature … Continue reading →

The sort of simple, indulgent reveries you could find on TV variety shows back in their Golden Age, turning over the camera and six minutes of your show to Orson Welles to improvise his way up to Sir John, Shakespeare’s … Continue reading →