Monthly Archives: December 2023

Cute and quippy, “Merry Little Batman” is an adorably silly holiday goof on DC/Warner Brothers’ most valuable comic book franchise. It’s light and fun enough that it has to be giving the Warner suits staring down “Aquaman” and “Suicide Squad” … Continue reading →

Neil Simon co-wrote it, Burt Bachrach and Hal David composed the jaunty music, Vittoria De Sica directed it and Peter Sellers starred in it. But when “After the Fox” came out in 1966, this sly farce about The State of … Continue reading →

Mads is an 18th century dreamer/doer intent on building “The king’s first settlement on the heath” of Denmark’s Jutland on “The king’s land” on behalf of the king. Who “doesn’t know you exist.” Ummm… A February release from Magnolia.

Ryan Reynolds stars, with the voices of Steve Carell, Emily Blunt, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina and many others voicing those imaginary childhood friends who need a new kid to work with. “IF” is coming our way in May.

It was a blockbuster when it opened on the Subcontinent. But as in North America, being a big box office hit isn’t necessarily a qualifier for Oscar glory. India’s submission for this year’s Best International Feature competition is a sentimental, … Continue reading →

Hey, it was the ’80s. Axel was the Name of the Decade, amIright? Paul Rudd and Joseph Gordon Levitt, along with Judge Reinhold and a few survivors from the Glory Days of “Beverly Hills Cop” are back on the job … Continue reading →

The comforts, traumas and shortcomings of “Memory” make for a poignant if somewhat melodramatic romance and star vehicle for two of the best in the acting business — Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard. It’s a story of two damaged people, … Continue reading →

Martin Freeman plays the Tennessee high school teacher and mentor who is challenged by a talented student who decides to tease, test and maybe even ruin him.

A bracing, trippy thriller that lets technique overwhelm a simple story, “NAGA” is like no Saudi film we’ve ever seen before. Writer-director Meshal Al Jaser’s tale of young female (limited) rebellion and a quest to escape a posh party in … Continue reading →

A divided country with a “Florida Alliance” and “Western” forces of Texas and California at war with the central government? Sounds far-fetched but cautionary and not exactly the kind of “escape” people will be looking for next April, in an … Continue reading →