Monthly Archives: May 2023

“Oh Belinda” is a dark and sometimes comic Turkish body-switch comedy, 97 minutes of giving a spoiled, indulgent actress a taste of the “real life” of a character she’s not-very-committed to playing. It’s from a genre Hollywood revisits, occasionally, but … Continue reading →

The venerated Willie Nelson‘s 90th birthday and the celebrated character actress Melinda Dillon‘s recent passing lured me back to “Songwriter,” an ornery and always amusing country music comedy built around Nelson’s story, Nelson’s persona and Nelson’s attitudes about Nashville and … Continue reading →

“Pillow Party Massacre” is such a terrorizing tease. You title your movie that, you’re promising three things. It won’t be unlike all the assorted “Slumber Party Massacre” C-movies that preceded it. There’ll be some titillation — frolicking in sleepwear, slapping … Continue reading →

“Lesbian phys-ed teacher” feels like a stereotype that’s outlived its days as “that first gay woman I ever knew” and “rite of passage” trope. Back in the modern American dark ages, there was even a queer folk song about it, … Continue reading →

Honestly, I didn’t know what to make of “Joe Versus the Volcano” when it came out. And if I’m remembering correctly, I’m not sure anybody reviewing way back then did either. But if Hollywood was ever going to indulge anybody … Continue reading →

Oh, “Kiss, Kiss!,” you impish little Polish rom-com, how do I hate thee? Let me ennumate the ways. I hate your stupid story, your loopy sitcom logic, your repellent lead, your idiotically-compliant leading lady and her inexplicable soft spot for … Continue reading →

Disquieting, discomfitting and disturbing almost on a molecular level, “Soft & Quiet” is a horror movie all but ripped from today’s headlines, or would be if anyone still read newspapers. It’s not about monsters, it’s about your neighbors. And while … Continue reading →

The story has turned up in so many forms, in every media imaginable — yes, even a “graphic novel” — that it’s a piece of our universal narrative heritage now. “Carmen” was the classic femme fatale, the perfect temptress to … Continue reading →

Looks the way you remember, plays like the novel made cinematic and rabble rousing.

The hook’s in the title, the title tells the tale and if you’re reading this review, you too must have been lured by the bait of “Plus One at an Amish Wedding.” This sunny, PG rom-com is free streamer Tubi’s … Continue reading →