Monthly Archives: February 2024

“The Legionnaire” is a riveting topical drama “torn from today’s headlines” and set on the front lines of the global migration and housing crisis. The plot is another cop must choose between “families” dilemma — his blood relatives versus his … Continue reading →

We’ve had a gloves-off documentary about the triumphant and tragically addictive life of singer Amy Winehouse. Here’s a link to my interview with “Amy” director Asif Kapadia. Now, the same folks who thought the abortion titled “Lisa Frankenstein” was a … Continue reading →

To put it delicately, “Lisa Frankenstein,” a new high school romance about an aspiring goth poetess who falls for a long-dead teen with dash and 1830s sideburn, doesn’t play. A campy, bloody rom-com spin on a “Warm Bodies” theme, it … Continue reading →

Romain Duris and Paul Kircher stars in this festival-acclaimed French sci-fi fantasy about family, evolution and a magical transformation of the human species. It’s from the director of “Love at First Fight,” and this version of “The Animal Kingdom” — … Continue reading →

“Lost in Perfection” is a generally straightforward melodrama with thriller elements, or maybe a simple thriller with lots of melodrama (contrived plot twists and character “complications”). But every so often, one is allowed to ponder if it isn’t some sort … Continue reading →

It is a dreadful oversight on someone’s part that the picture of Audrey Tatou as “Amélie” doesn’t adorn the Wikipedia page for the word “coquette.” Wide-eyed and adorable, with a pixie haircut emphasizing her youth and that dimpled smile evoking … Continue reading →

There’s a stranger in this dusty, 1870 New Mexican town. But as it’s just after the Civil War, this stranger, packing a Remington six-shooter, is Black. Rail thin, served, but “barely,” in the log-cabin excuse for a saloon, asked for … Continue reading →

Got to get Krasinski back into the story, if only briefly. So…prequel time, back to the days when the sound-sensitive alien beasties first dropped in. Krasinski didn’t direct. He just gets a story credit, a brief appearance and a fat … Continue reading →

You can see the seeds of a decent modern day Western in “The Stolen Valley,” a thriller about Native American land theft, vanishing heritage, blood ties and the Old West delusions of Southwestern gun culture. First-time writer-director Jesse Edwards’ script … Continue reading →

With its long pre-production process and almost as long release schedule, cinema has never been the most deft medium at surfing the tides of pop culture. Trends bubble up or explode, and like a time-delayed bomb, movies get hold of … Continue reading →