Monthly Archives: August 2024

There’s only one way to properly pay tribute to a film legend who’s just passed. You pick out a favorite title on their resume and you re-watch it, remembering all that they were and meant on the big screen. Gena … Continue reading →

Trueba is best known for the film that truly launched future Oscar winner Penelope Cruz, “Belle Epoque.” This romantic thriller was retitled from “Haunted Heart.” Which was a better title. Aug. 23, limited release, Sept. 23, streaming.

His latest wife goes into rehab, so adult daughter Mila is who he summons to help with two little kids. Andie MacDowell, Carmen Ejogo and Kevin Pollack also star in this Oct.18 dramedy.

Paul Feig created the cult series “Freaks and Geeks,” directed “Bridesmaids” and “A Simple Favor” and the first twenty minutes of “Jackpot!” — which he also directed — is bad enough to make one forget ALL of that. Bad one-liners, … Continue reading →

Those of us old enough to remember catching the original “Alien” in a theater recall which cinema we saw it in, how it was worth going to this or that city’s lone “70mm Dolby Stereo” film palace to experience it. … Continue reading →

Elizabeth Banks has a face pretty much designed to be appreciated in extreme close-up. A gifted comedienne and convincing dramatic lead with years as a talented and beautiful object of cinematic romantic desire under her belt, it’s not hard to … Continue reading →

Gena Rowlands had a late life blockbuster, “The Notebook,” which made for a fine curtain call on a career that spanned half a century. She played the older version of Rachel McAdams in a teary eyed romance about a devoted … Continue reading →

Chiwetel Ejiofor‘s “Rob Peace” surfs the ebb and flow of one life in making an age-old point about race and life in America. Simply put, it underscores the message of generations of TV ads for The United Negro College Fund … Continue reading →

“The Greatest Surf Movie in the Universe” is nothing of the sort. But give it to the stoners who sat around a barbie and dreamed-up this daft would-be-romp. Mixing live-action surfing footage in with a loopy sci-fi story “acted” out … Continue reading →

The couple can’t miss them, a bearded old man and a small boy eating street food, then curling up under cardboard when night falls just on the other side of the gate that guards the couple’s middle class bungalow. They’re … Continue reading →