Monthly Archives: January 2023

Today’s Around the World with Netflix offering demonstrates that South Africans are just as capable of wasting money and effects on a sci fi comedy with barely a laugh in it. And the phrase “lost in translation” isn’t limited to … Continue reading →

Pixar’s “Turning Red,” Henry Selick’s “Wendell & Wild ,” DreamWorks’ “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and “The Sea Beast” are destined to lose to Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” when the Annie Awards are handed out. Unless the fact that … Continue reading →

Alice meets two friends for drinks after work. But there’s a nervous edge to the evening, something about the repeated “ping” alerts from her cell phone that her friends exchange a resigned look over. Is her job that essential, her … Continue reading →

Neil Jordan directs Liam, who performs William Monahan’s adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s most famous creation. Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Danny Huston, Alan Cumming, Ian Hart, Francois Arnaud, Daniela Melchior and Colm Meaney star in this Feb. 15 release.

My favorite scene in the heist thriller “Out of Exile” takes place in an arthouse cinema, supposedly in Dallas. An FBI agent (Ryan Merriman) meets a biker-looking “CI” (confidential informant) played by Jake Roberts. You think to yourself, “Hey, I … Continue reading →

Oh this looks good. Feb. 3.

The Australian dramatic fantasy “Blaze” is so unusual that there is no meeting it halfway. Either take it on director and co-writer Del Kathryn Barton’s terms, or move along. It’s an extraordinary blend of fantasy and ugly reality folded into … Continue reading →

Little-seen if occasionally revived, Jean-Denis Bonan’s “A Woman Kills” is an arch, experimental and titillating French thriller from that seminal year in modern French history, 1968. It’s not particularly revolutionary, as one might expect from an era of demonstrations and … Continue reading →

A petite, kitty-and-cat-video-obsessed pixie punches, slices, stabs and shoots well above her weight in “The Violence Action,” a candy-colored yakuza-killing comedy from Japan. Based on a comic book, cast with mostly ex-child actors who look like the figures in Shin … Continue reading →

Tom Sizemore is decades beyond his “Saving Private Ryan” glory. But he’s top billed in “Bermuda Island,” a plane crash thriller that in no way should be confused with “Plane.” Spoiler alert — Sizemore, playing a flight attendant (Stop laughing!) … Continue reading →