Monthly Archives: April 2023

The climactic scene in Romanian writer-director Cristian Mungiu’s “R.M.N.” is a jaw-droppingly ugly town meeting. Almost everyone in the tiny Transylanian village of Recia Recfalva have shown up in the community hall to give vent to every prejudice, ignorance and … Continue reading →

There’s a stately, almost funereal seriousness to Brit director Guy Ritchie’s first combat film. “The Covenant,” billed as “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” so that it isn’t confused with any horror movie titled that, has little of the antic energy and … Continue reading →

Crackling scenes mix with clunkers, clever twists meet cliches and its all a hash when it comes to justifying the “team” set up in this mass shooting spree thriller “To Catch a Killer.” Whatever its other failings and successes, this … Continue reading →

I wasn’t nuts about this German drama when I reviewed it, but it’s interesting and well intentioned and stars the great German actor Jurgen Prochnow. And it’s harmless, something I have to worry about when donating DVDs to public libraries … Continue reading →

Mesmerizingly beautiful diving footage, a drifting narrative and some solid performances recommend “Blueback,” a sweet but somewhat squishy eco-parable set Down Under and starring native Oz daughter Mia Wasikowska. It manages to tell the story of a young woman’s lifelong … Continue reading →

Fernão Mendes Pinto was a 16th century Portuguese explorer, adventurer, memoirist and fabulist whose life reads like a conflation of the quests of Cabeza de Vaca or Marco Polo and the picaresque invented misadventures of Baron Munchausen or Harry Flashman. … Continue reading →

It wasn’t the news that 20th Century Studios is bringing a straight-to-Hulu remake starring those household names Sinqua Walls and Jack Harlow next month that had me settle in and rewatch “White Men Can’t Jump” last night. It was the … Continue reading →

“Nefarious” is a simple two-hander about a psychological/theological debate between a condemned mass murderer who says he’s possessed by a demon and the atheist psychologist sent to determine if he’s sane enough to execute. If the dialogue is compelling, the … Continue reading →

Sophie Wilde and Patrick Gibson are the youngsters on hand for this slick looking period piece about magic and manipulation, based on the Tom Holt novel. Miranda Otto is also here for good measure.

One of the cardinal rules of any sports film is that the actors portraying players need to be convincing in that sport, and the that filmmaker must know how to storyboard, block and edit surfing or soccer, golf, baseball, football … Continue reading →