Monthly Archives: January 2025

Movie Review: It’s a wedding, and Reese, Celia, Meredith, Geraldine and Will say “You’re Cordially Invited,” Y’all

Posted on January 31, 2025 by Roger Moore

“Commitment” is a cornerstone of the marriage contract. And it’s damned important in a romantic comedy about marriages as well. Say this for the cast of writer-director Nicholas Stoller’s “You’re Cordially Invited.” These kids — and Will Ferrell and Reese … Continue reading →

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Netflixable? “The Sand Castle” is a child’s fantasy of war, loss and displacement

Posted on January 31, 2025 by Roger Moore

Today’s “Around the World with Netflix” film comes from Lebanon, a nation no stranger to strife and conflict like most of the Middle Eastern nation states surrounding her. Lebanon isn’t mentioned by name or treated directly as the subject of … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Meet your compliant and cuddly new AI robotic “Companion”

Posted on January 31, 2025 by Roger Moore

“Companion” is a horrific and caustically cautionary sci-fi thriller about how the digitized alternatives to dating might go wrong. Very wrong. Signing on an impressive cast, writer-director Drew Hancock takes a big, roundhouse swing at “coupling” in a distracted, instant … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Combat at Its most Cliched — “Valiant One”

Posted on January 31, 2025 by Roger Moore

The bar was raised on combat films decades ago. Corny, tactically sloppy flag-wavers no longer cut the mustard. And thanks to the most documentary filmed in history — Iraq and Afghanistan — it’s not just the feature films that made … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Liam and Colm, Ciarán and Kerry “In the Land of Saints and Sinners”

Posted on January 30, 2025 by Roger Moore

“In the Land of Saints and Sinners” is an embarrassment of riches, a forlorn thriller cast with many of the greatest Irish character actors of their generation and featuring the cream of the next generation of Irish leading ladies. Of … Continue reading →

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Movie Preview: The Supernatural looks like “Double Exposure” in this indie thriller

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Roger Moore

Howard Golberg wrote and directed this Freestyle (Feb. 18) release. Caylee Cowan (“Willy’s Wonderland”), Alexander Calvert (“Supernatural,” Gen V”), and Kahyun Kim (“Cocaine Bear,” “St. Denis Medical”).

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Classic Film Review: Sam Fuller’s Red Scare Noir, “Pickup on South Street” (1953)

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Roger Moore

The movies used to sentimentalize mobsters, especially during “the Wars” — WWII and the Cold one that followed. They might be cutthroats, thieves, lowlife grifters and rummies. But when it came to fascists and commies, flesh and blood threats to … Continue reading →

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Documentary Review: “Sly Lives! (Aka the Burden of Black Genius)”

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Roger Moore

Questlove, member of The Roots, the house band of “The Tonight Show,” viral sensation via his role in Jimmy Fallon’s “Music on (Kids) Classroom Instruments” cover song gimmick, is quickly emerging as THE music documentarian of the moment. He compiled … Continue reading →

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Movie Preview: Wintry, Cultish Horror awaits on the isle where “The Demoness” Presides

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Roger Moore

Another “And Then There Were None” variation, this one sexed and bloodied up for a new era. A lesser known cast is set against each other and picked off, one by one. The tone and the look are arresting. Lowered … Continue reading →

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Netflixable? Italian losers trap a winner via “The Love Scam”

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Roger Moore

“The Love Scam (Mica è colpa mia)” is a genial Italian caper comedy that barely manages “genial” and never really capers. There’s a lack of ambition, an Italian shrug of indifference, that slacks through every element — script, direction and … Continue reading →

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