Monthly Archives: July 2023

Netflixable? Japanese High Schoolers as Boy Band Brawlers — “High & Low: The Worst X”

The Japanese Boy Band brawlers “media franchise” “High & Low” may be the craziest thing you ever drop in on as you travel Around the World with Netflix. It is, in many ways, the classic Japanese “give the people (teen … Continue reading

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Classic Film Review: David Lean looks in on Noel Coward’s “This Happy Breed” (1944)

“This Happy Breed” is a middling if affectionate domestic melodrama that spun out of the creative fervor of playwright Noël Coward‘s most productive years, the 1920s and ’30s. It was Coward’s attempt at peeking in on the working class he … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Child Trafficking Mayhem in Malaysia — “Walid”

An onscreen brawl takes over the movie just before the halfway point and lasts for almost an hour in “Walid,” a Malaysian thriller about child trafficking and the burly teacher who decides to beat his way through all manner of … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Remembering the “Theater,” never quite mastering the “Camp” — “Theater Camp”

The third act, home to the show’s resolution and finale, saves “Theater Camp,” a show that’s lacked anything resembling a “show stopper” up to its last scenes. The script is cleverly conceived to conceal the plot’s “big original musical” from … Continue reading

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Movie Preview: Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor procreate as members of the future’s “Pod Generation”

Sci-fi “pod” raised babies vs. “the old fashioned way.” Aug. 11, this satire shows us the future. Maybe.

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Netflixable? How Many Poles does it take to find a National Treasure? “Mr. Car and the Knights Templar”

“Mr. Car and the Knights Templar” is a Polish mash-up of “Indiana Jones,” “National Treasure” “DaVinci Code” and “The Goonies,” a treasure hunt mystery with clues and ancient artifacts with “the power to change the course of history.” It’s a … Continue reading

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Movie Preview: John David Washington takes on an Adorable Terminator — “The Creator”

Gemma Chan, Oscar winner Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe and Veronica Ngo star in this Sept. 29 release, which has a much more international feel than the “Terminator” franchise ever did. Gareth Edwards, who did the best of the post-original trilogy … Continue reading

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Movie Preview: Ashley Greene and Ron Perlman upset Nic Cage’s “Retirement Plan”

Greene plans the daughter who gets in trouble, Perlman and Jackie Earle Haley are bad guys embodying that trouble, Cage plays a dad with “periocular skills,” and Ernie Hudson’s the guy who knows Dad’s past. Yes, this looks a LOT … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Immigrant siblings struggle to survive Belgium — “Tori and Lokita”

Her unseen interviewer asks questions that bring Lokita to tears. It’s not that what the Belgian immigration counselor asks the teenaged girl from Benin about is painful or troubling. Lokita (Joely Mbundu) is lying, and keeping her story straight — … Continue reading

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Movie Preview: An Oglala Sioux woman takes a road trip home to “The Unknown Country”

I drive a lot. A LOT. I’m totally down with the idea of a road picture capturing the spiritual disconnect between where you left and where you’re going, a journey that changes you as you’re making it. This looks lovely. … Continue reading

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