Monthly Archives: June 2023

A demon makes mischief in an Indonesian village and the result is a bloodbath, with feuding locals under that demon’s influence and a little cannibalism thrown in for um, flavor. That’s “Para Betina Pengikut Iblis,” whose title appears to translate … Continue reading →

I have never seen a “last party” teen romp as violent at “The Crusades,” a would-be coming-of-age comedy that drowns in a hot tub of toxic testosterone. It opens with a teen-planned/teen-featured cage fight and climaxes wtih a gang brawl … Continue reading →

The movies used to be more fearless when it came to breaking children’s hearts. Films like “Bambi” and “Old Yeller” weren’t bent on shielding a child from the knowledge that the world is an impermanent place, that pets and parents … Continue reading →

“Honey, Baby Mine” is a not-really-a memoir that reads like a podcast someone passed along to a printer. That’s kind of what you get when turn a long series of transcibed conversations into a book. And that’s what Oscar-winner Laura … Continue reading →

Gal G is a secret agent chasing a master hacker endangering global stability in this Aug. 11 Netflix actioner. Jamie Dornan also stars. Looks slick.

Michihito Fujii’s “Village,” inexplicably retitled “The Village” by some typist at Netflix, is a murky melodrama with Noh Theatre and other distinctly Japanese cultural traditions and attitudes folded into what plays as a slow-simmer thriller. The untranslated Noh scenes and … Continue reading →

“I’ll Show You Mine” is a rather tedious two-hander in which a non-fiction author interviews her once-famous model and ground-breaking “pansexual” nephew for her next book. As drinks are sipped and awkward truths are brought to light, we’re reminded of … Continue reading →

Were they a big deal? Drawing a blank on that era. June 30, a slow-rolling release over the sleepy prairie states and their cities.

There was never anything subtle about Luc Besson’s “Leon: The Professional,” titled “Leon” overseas but “The Professional” here, and retitled both as it arrived on video. A minimalist thriller with maximalist, pull out the stops exess, it’s an opera of … Continue reading →

There’s a properly extravagant and epic-length long-take showacase moment in the first act of “Extraction 2,” a 21 minutes/no edits first-person-shooter video game-style plunge through a prison break that takes the viewer and our hero Rake (Chris Hemsworth) from tunnels … Continue reading →