Author Archives: Roger Moore

A father’s encouragement to his late-blooming son lies at the heart of Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur.” “You’re me, and more,” Daddy dinosaur (the voice of Jeffrey Wright) tells his chicken-livered offspring, Arlo (Raymond Ochoa). Arlo, we know, will have to … Continue reading →

Dry as a martini and as perfectly composed as a Christmas card, “Carol” is is the gay “Far From Heaven,” if that’s not redundant, another tale of “forbidden love” amid the polished Packards and crisp fashion lines of the 1950s. … Continue reading →

“You know this story,” the sidekick soon-to-be-known as Igor narrates. Lightning, corpses, “a mad genius.” But what if you didn’t? You know, “know the story”? “Victor Frankenstein” is a madcap mashup of three stories — at least as they’re traditionally … Continue reading →

“Brooklyn” is a sentimental Irish immigrant melodrama that’s in many ways every bit as generic as its title. A young Irish woman “with nothing FOR me” over there, comes over here. There’s a weepy mum and sister in Ireland, a … Continue reading →

You won’t find The Barkley’s Marathons listed online in any of those Outside/Outside Times magazine compilations of the “world’s toughest ultramarathons.” It isn’t held in the Moroccan desert, above the Arctic Circle or in Death Valley. There’s no “Canyon to … Continue reading →

Director Amy Berg managed to land all the “big gets” she needed for her documentary, “Janis: Little Girl Blue.” She got interviews with Kris Kristofferson, and the surviving bandmates from Janis Joplin’s three-band career. There are surviving boyfriends, including “Country” … Continue reading →

I told you it sucked. Word of mouth may be working against, the lingering bad taste of “Mockingjay Part 1” may have filmgoers leery. And then there’s the matter of the audience aging and perhaps maturing out of the YA … Continue reading →

So “The Hunger Games” make their exit with a wildly overrated 72% on the Rottentomatoes tomatometer.Rottentomatoes tomatometer.  Even the more reliable Metacritic reflects this bias, tho not to the same extent. tho not to the same extent. Godawfully dull film, … Continue reading →

“Spotlight” is the best movie about journalism since “All the President’s Men.” Director Tom McCarthy and a cast of master underplayers deliver the tale of the Watergate of our times. It’s a newspaper picture, a great one, about the shoe … Continue reading →

Benedict Cumberbatch. Penelope Cruz, Wiig, Ferrell.An 80s Alfa Romeo Spider. And Ben and Owen, together again. Yeah, it had a hint of desperation when it was announced. But “Zoolander 2,” aka “2oolander,” looks self-absorbed and amusing, a comedy for the … Continue reading →