Monthly Archives: June 2025

Netflixable? Scientific Couple leaves “Our Times” (Nuestros Tiempos) for a More Diverse and Progressive Future

Time seems to stand still in the Mexican dramedy/romance “Our Times.” Lacking urgency and slow-footed in the extreme, its 90 minutes crawl by as it laboriously makes its points about the sweeping changes in relations between the sexes in culture … Continue reading

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Movie Review: The Demure Charms of Aisling Bea and Billie Lourd unleashed — “And Mrs”

“And Mrs” is a bittersweet and offbeat romantic comedy of love and loss and mourning, and a most unexpected star vehicle for unfiltered Irish comic Aisling Bea, nicely paired up with Carrie Fisher’s kid, Billie Lourd. Bea, one of the … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Ancient China sees a Bloody Martial Arts Brawl over the “Nine Ring Golden Dagger”

The first laugh in the martial arts quest thriller “Nine Ring Golden Dagger” might be its title. It was called “Blocking the Horse” in China. And the “dagger” that was mistranslated here is a sword attached to a seven or … Continue reading

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Classic Film Review: Streisand, O’Neal and Bogdanovich go Looney Tunes Madcap — “What’s Up, Doc?” (1972)

A handful of great filmmakers came to the movies as genuine cinema buffs. Truffaut to Tarantino, Godard and Schrader, Peter Bogdanovich to Park Chan Wook all were film fanatics, some even critics who found a path from taking notes and … Continue reading

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Netflixable? Taraji and Tyler Perry Grab that “Straw” that Breaks a Single Mom’s Back

Tyler Perry built his reputation as a champion of Black womanhood. He’s told mostly women’s stories, showcased actresses both famous and obscure and spared no makeup or hairstyling expense for his shiny soap operas and low comedies with a message. … Continue reading

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Documentary Review: Guitars, Reverb and a History of “Sound of the Surf”

Here’s a fun-fun-fun little documentary about the history of surf music, a movie that remembers the surfing “fad” and enduring appeal of surf culture and the “dripping damp sound” of Fender (usually) guitars pumped through amps that had to grow … Continue reading

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Netflixable? Marseilles-set “K.O.” Delivers a Glancing Blow

“K.O.” is a two-fisted French actioner about an ex-MMA fighter coerced into tracking down the missing son of a man he killed in the octagon. The fights are as furious as the story is ludicrous. Long review short, it’s about … Continue reading

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Documentary Review: A Back to Nature prophet tries to pass on his piece of “Paradise”

Western North Carolina has long been a home to those out-of-step with mainstream culture looking for land to settle on, and in many cases, live communally. When I covered the area for public radio stations and later newspapers, you could … Continue reading

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Classic Film Review: Emma and Hugh and Kate and Rickman and Austen and Ang Lee, “Sense and Sensibility” (1995)

Watching any movie with Jane Austen ties inevitably sends me back to at least one of my favorites among the films and TV series based on her works. “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” was no exception. It wouldn’t be “Emma” … Continue reading

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Netflixable? Hell hath no Fury like a Mother “Uninvited” to the Home of Her Daughter’s Killers

“Uninvited” is a Filipino revenge thriller, a slow but solid B-picture slicked up to pass for an A-feature. Vilma Santos stars as a grieving mother who sets out to avenge a student-daughter “defiled” and murdered by a mob boss, a … Continue reading

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