Monthly Archives: January 2024

Chilling. Very clever manipulation of action — so many people walking backwards, out of scenes and into further peril. Bill Nighy, Sonia Braga, Nell Tiger Free and Ralph Ineson headline the cast of this debut feature by Arkasha Stevenson, a … Continue reading →

France’s hope for a Best International Feature Oscar this year reside in “The Taste of Things,” a savory, exquisitely-acted immersion in The Pride of France — her cuisine — and a couple who make beautiful dishes together near the end … Continue reading →

“Nobody” or its acting equivalents star in this gonzo “48 Hour Film Project” version of a making-a-ski-movie comedy, “Weak Layers” opens Friday.

“War Blade” is a rather dull, half-speed WWII commando picture about two Brits and some French resisters trying to storm a Nazi bunker where strange and nefarious things are going on, and not just to the prisoners they’re torturing there. … Continue reading →

John Huston’s adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s story “The Man Who Would be King” would have been a vastly different enterprise had he made it when he first had the idea — in his post “African Queen” 1950s. Huston wanted his … Continue reading →

Think I’ll review this? Given my obsession with movies featuring a vintage (butt ugly) Chevy Nova as a “car with character?” You bet your life. Other vintage cars feature in this “road” picture. “Roadkill,” a straight-up thrill-kill B-movie thriller, opens … Continue reading →

Here’s the trailer to the first film to make use of Disney’s insanely-overextended copyright of the character the company founder created nearly a century ago. As horror movies set in amusement parks go, “Mickey’s Mouse Trap” doesn’t seem to offer … Continue reading →

You hate to start the year reviewing a bad C-movie aiming for B-status, but that’s the state of the cinema between Christmas and that first weekend after New Year’s. “Sniper: G.R.I,T.” is the latest in a series of glib, violent … Continue reading →

The first theatrical release of 2024 is a horror tale with a pool and a “Marco Polo” gag. Let’s hope the new cinema year starts with a shriek and a gurgle. Opens Friday.

Cristiana Dell’Anna has the title role in this Italian Catholic immigrant who made opening a humane orphanage in New York her life’s work. Giancarlo Giannini plays Pope Leo XIII, with John Lithgow the New York mayor she had to contend … Continue reading →