Monthly Archives: July 2023

“The Lesson” is a writerly thriller that spends the better part of its first hour trying to convince you it’s not “Deathtrap Lite,” no matter how many times its author-antagonist insists “Good writers ‘borrow,’ great writers STEAL.” And then the … Continue reading →

“The Miracle Club” is a downbeat Irish Catholic character study in a minor key, a period piece about the tragedy, desperation and simple superstition that sends the faithful to the French shrine at Lourdes in search of “the cure.” What … Continue reading →

Friend, if you can’t get an entertaining documentary built around defiant, defensive, sassy and verbose Black transgender sex-workers, you’re talking to the WRONG Black transgender sex workers. Transgender filmmaker D. Smith finds a fascinating subjects to profile in New York, … Continue reading →

Leon talks a good game. He’s come to the summer house of a friend, in the forest set back from the sea, to “work.” He has “a manuscript” and a “deadline.” The friend — Felix — wants to dash off … Continue reading →

I really enjoyed this moody Chinese film noir about an inmate remembering why he’s in prison. “Spare, dark and gritty,” an award winner at Cannes, this Film Movement release deserves a bigger audience. Now the good folks of Maitland, Florida … Continue reading →

The first time I heard that Britishism disguised by the clever British acronym “Cee YoU Next Tuesday” was right around the first of October, 1980. And because it came out of the plummy, posh Oscar-winning mouth of the late Glenda … Continue reading →

“My veins no longer pump the blood of life,” Gus purrs to Irene, when he finally gets her to agree to go out with him. “We NEED you to nurture me back to life, Irene. An ETERNITY awaits us!” Irene? … Continue reading →

The right viewer in the proper frame of mind, in the mood for a gloomy, symbolic and supernatural dip into the psyche, might get more out of the Aussie thriller “Run Rabbit Run” than I did. A slower-than-slow slide into … Continue reading →

“The Channel” is a super-violent cops-and-robbers shoot-em-up set in the Irish Channel neighborhood of New Orleans. It’s built around “Heat” scaled shootouts between Tac’d to the max ex-military bank robbers, and New Orleans PD, SWAT and an FBI bank robbery … Continue reading →

“Two Tickets to Greece” kicks off like too many other Grecian idylls, with a woman in need of getting her spark, zest for life, belief in love or “groove” back setting off for sunny Greece. But this variation on a … Continue reading →