Monthly Archives: May 2024

A flawed pop icon earns a flawed but serviceable bio-pic in “Back to Black,” an Amy Winehouse portrait built around a nuanced take on the star and uncanny vocal impersonation by Marisa Abela. Abela, who was “Teen Talk Barbie” in … Continue reading →

“Good will” is something an actor earns over the course of a long and storied career. It’s what makes a movie star, and what makes movie stars “bankable.” And it’s the currency such stars spend when what they give their … Continue reading →

Two competing “cleaners” in the parlance of hit man movies — and those who tidy up bloody messes — are forced to work together in this dark Action comedy slated for Sept 20 release. Great chemistry, as always, dry put … Continue reading →

Some years back, there was a Hollywood dustup created when Clint Eastwood released a couple of films about the World War II Battle for Iwo Jima, one from the U.S. point of view, featuring scores of Marines who took part, … Continue reading →

Dunno. Could be worse. Could be…mimes. French mimes. David Earl, Natalie Palamides, Amy De Bhrún, Fionn Foley, Tadhg Murphy, Ivan Kaye and Shane is JAMES Joyce in the End Times farce from the Emerald Isle. June 14.

A “new adventure” sends Moana deeper into the Pacific at the invitation of The Ancestors.  Looks a lot like an edge-free continuation of the first film, a few years down the road, older and wiser? November. 

This June 28 cougar rom com also stars Kathy Bates. King plays the daughter who works as assistant to the younger dude Mom is warming up to. Veteran screenwriter and sometime director Richard LaGravenese directs.

“Zero to Hero” is badly-botched Brazilian “role switch” comedy about a flailing and failing rocker paid to impersonate Brazil’s most famous country music singer for a national tour when the vain, egotistical and alcoholic Sandro Sanderley lapses into a coma. … Continue reading →

It’s always a little jarring to run across a Golden Age Western directed by the Austrian dabbler in the dark side, Fritz Lang. The director of “M,” “Ministry of Fear” and “The Blue Gardenia” always seemed “urban,” occasionally “futuristic” and … Continue reading →

“Silent Land” is a brittle and biting parable about Europe and widespread attitudes towards the Third World problems of people “over there,” on the other side of the Mediterranean. Director and co-writer Aga Woszcynska serves up a drama on low … Continue reading →