Author Archives: Roger Moore

In cinephile shorthand, “The First Omen” comes off as an homage to the gory cinema of Dario Argento as imagined by someone who’s only heard descriptions of the famous/infamous Caravaggio of motion picture horror. For a cynical, “Let’s milk this … Continue reading →

A “YA” best-seller drowns in the lazy screenwriter’s worst enemy, endless “VO” of the lead character, constantly telling us her innermost thoughts, in “The Tearsmith,” a tale of orphans who reach puberty bonded by more than just shared trauma. The … Continue reading →

For his feature film directing debut, the British-born Indian star Dev Patel takes a simple vengeance tale and all but overwhelms it with furious action, flashy camera work and breathtaking editing. And I’m kind of OK with that. A Jaipur … Continue reading →

Two 2-hour movies, previewing back to back. “Omen” and “Monkey Man.” It’s early April, so we’re not getting our hopes too high. But somebody’s gotta be good enough to get that pre summer money. Here we go.

Golf, an elitist sport long identified with “white privilege,” is challenged in “The Long Game,” a feel-good dramedy about a plucky team of Mexican-American kids who took on racist Texas and racist Texans in the 1950s and integrated golf in … Continue reading →

Twentieth Century Studios takes a shot at rebooting their classic “Omen” property, and Universal acknowledges that Indian cinema is an increasingly important draw at the U.S. box office with their “Monkey Man” Dev Patel action pic. Both are opening Friday, … Continue reading →

The world’s most popular sport is bound to produce scads of formulaic sports dramedies about plucky underdogs and the challenges they face mastering or at least embracing “The Beautiful Game” in pursuit of some higher um, “goal.” “Next Goal Wins,” … Continue reading →

Bill Skarsgard…because there aren’t enough Skarsgardlings in the cinema, with Michelle Dockery, Jessica Roth, Sharlto Copley, Isaiah Mustafa and Old School Famke Janssen star in this gonzo bloodback about a dead and mute guy who goeth on a rampage. And … Continue reading →

What a charming little animated whimsy “Chicken for Linda!” is. It’s an adorable cartoon for French students of all ages, by turns sweetly sentimental and seriously slapshticky, a tale of a child who craves a dish her father used to … Continue reading →

I didn’t take a shine to Orson Welles‘ “Mr. Arkadin,” which I believe I saw under the “Confidential Report” title back in grad school. My recollection was that it screened as a very rough print, and probably short enough to … Continue reading →