Monthly Archives: April 2023

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 →

“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 →

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 →

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 →

“War Sailor (Krigsseileren)” is a Norwegian Tale of Two Sailors. It’s a somber World War II sea saga of sorrow, sacrifice and everything that can go wrong when you sail your merchant ship repeatedly into harm’s way. Writer-director Gunnar Vikane … Continue reading →

You’re never happy when a great booster of the cinema, a genuine film enthusiast, hangs it up. But if we’re to take Quentin Tarantino at his word, the just-turned-60 Oscar-winning director of “Pulp Fiction,” “Jackie Brown” and “Once Upon a … Continue reading →

On screen hit men and women have had a code — “rules” — going back at least as far John Woo’s “The Killer,” which folded into the early films of Luc Besson (“Nikita,” “Leon: The Professional). Besson added the idea … Continue reading →

April 21, the Florida Film Festival will play host to An Evening with John Cusack, a screening of his Cameron Crowe teen romance classic “Say Anything,” followed by a Q & A moderated by yours truly. If you live in … Continue reading →