Monthly Archives: April 2023

Whatever “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” does at the box office, and it’s projected to open big, Illumination wants to tease us into getting ready for their big holiday cartoon. “Migration.” Not enough here to see how good it might … Continue reading →

He’s officially waaaaaay past “boyish,” and he no longer has that cop show set in Hawaii. But here is high mileage Scott Caan, Hawaiian shirt open to show off his still cut abs, playing a first time hit man in … Continue reading →

The plastic kiddie toy production design, the cheesy innocence, the embracing and mocking of all the different races/looks with the same name and vapid personality — “Barbies” all — except for the gender neutral “Kens” — the winking innuendo, Greta … Continue reading →

“Paint” is a deadpan comedy that takes its best shot at sending up the magic, the mellowness and the messiness of a PBS icon. Mister Rogers was the only true rival to Bob Ross as a mainstay of early public … Continue reading →

Manuela Martelli goes “Hitchcockian?” May 5, limited release.

I have loved a lot of the anarchic and ever-so-colorful animation to come out of Illumination, Universal’s cartoonworks of choice. Have I mentioned how much I adored the anarchy of “Minion: The Rise of Gru” last year? Unadulterated Tex Avery-era … Continue reading →

You’ve got to be careful about the liberties you take with the facts when you’re making a film about an infamous terrorist incident. Especially if you’re an Indian production and the movie you’re making is about an Islamist attack in … Continue reading →

“A mother’s love” comes in a most unusual package in “A Thousand and One,” an intimate mother-and-son character study that’s most rewarding in sharing the details of barely scraping by in New York City. A.V. Rockwell’s debut feature is built … Continue reading →

I’ve been on board this IFC release ever since it was first whispered about. A names-changed goof on the late PBS star of “The Joy of Painting.” It’s opening Friday and I hope it’s as dark and weird and as … Continue reading →

If it’s wrong to use words like “entertaining” in describing the eco-thriller “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” well sic the Big Oil goons on me and let the chips fall where they may. A movie whose title tells the … Continue reading →