Daily Archives: August 4, 2023

A wistful Japanese drama from Kôji Fukada touches on the fragile nature of relationships and the struggle to do right by people. Something like that. An Aug. 11 release from our hip friends at Oscilloscope Laboratories, so you know I’m … Continue reading →

Another HUGE Friday ($17 million) means that it’s another Pretty in Pink weekend at the box office. Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster satire “Barbie” will clear $54 million by Sunday night, and tally a north American total of over $457 million by … Continue reading →

Maybe the most famous apology Mel Gibson ever made — “famous” because he’s not known for apologizing — was for a film he produced and starred in directed by the legendary Wim Wenders, of “Wings of Desire” and “Paris, Texas,” … Continue reading →

The bar’s pretty high on zombie movies these days. Show us something fresh, maybe with a bit of subtext, and surprise us. Or don’t bother. “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” is a Japanese multi-media franchise riff on a … Continue reading →

Insights and blunt psychological and sociological truths thumb-wrestle with “twee” all the way through actor Randall Park’s directing debut, “Shortcomings,” an Asian American rom-com that comments on Asian-American rom-coms. Equal measures witty, bittersweet and trite, it lands laughs and body-blows … Continue reading →

“The Meg 2: The Trench” loses the benefit of being an off-the-wall big-budget B-movie surprise, and it loses most of the laughs served up by the monster movie that took the summer of 2018 by surprise. It’s still built around … Continue reading →