Daily Archives: June 30, 2023

The golden age of big screen satire began, more or less, with 1964’s “Doctor Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” peaked with “Network” (1976) and wrapped up with “Being There” and “Life of Brian” … Continue reading →

Alan Arkin, who passed away today at the grand old age of 89, was one of the great comic actors of his generation and a couple of generations that followed. He was one of my all-time favorites, and if he … Continue reading →

With its same sex-coupled hero, its shapeshifting “monster” heroine at war with the “small minded,” its score adorned with “The Banana Splits Song,” a street sax player covering “Careless Whisper,” and characters testing a futuristic car sound system with a … Continue reading →

One of the gifts or curses of reviewing films for decades is that ability to spot a fiasco in the first few frames. Some movies start off with promise and lose it. Some stumble but give you the hope that … Continue reading →

There’s always a hint of defiance in mentioning the movie you’re most determined to steal from. It’s a dare, like “Sure, COMPARE our movie to that one.” Usually, it’s a bit misguided. “You can’t outrun the curse! Haven’t you ever … Continue reading →

Getting romance in a science fiction blockbuster is a rare and precious thing. Raising the stakes, amping up the action, Chalamet maturing into the role. This looks and FEELS ike a major step up from the somewhat tedious “universe building” … Continue reading →