Author Archives: Roger Moore

The first rule a Western fan applies to any modern take on the genre is the eyeball test. “Butcher’s Crossing,” a lean, gritty parable about shortsighted greed and environmental destruction, looks right. Not original “True Grit” celluloid cinematic, but “Lonesome … Continue reading →

Old World War II films that age well tend to have an artist behind the camera and eschew patriotic cheerleading for a weary “war is futile” but “fascism must be stopped” messaging. Carol Reed’s “The Key” brings the cynicism of … Continue reading →

Aaron Eckhart makes his “boxing picture,” playing a back-alley fighter who has a debt to Big Mama (“Secrets & Lies” star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, looking and sounding fierce). Bella Thorne is the Southern fried tattoo billboard who seems to believe in … Continue reading →

Rebecca Miller’s “She Came to Me” dances and teeters, staggers and skips along the line separating the quirky from the indulgent. It’s a high-minded, well-cast romantic comedy whose easy laughs come from two Oscar winners and Peter Dinklage, a film … Continue reading →

Ken Loach, one of Britain’s most politically conscious/working class savvy filmmakers (“The Wind that Shakes the Barley,” “It’s a Free World,””Jimmy’s Hall”), takes his shot at intolerance for displaced persons in his latest. Looks excellent. As one would expect.

“Filip” is a Polish World War II tale about a Jew, scrambling to survive the ongoing Holocaust, having his revenge by bedding every German woman he can — soldiers’ wives especially — while hiding out in Frankfurt. Based on an … Continue reading →

Director Danny Tedesco gave us the acclaimed documentary “The Wrecking Crew!” a film that celebrated the unsung heroes of the songs of the ’60s, LA’s most popular recording studio session musicians. They were the players who always got the call … Continue reading →

Terence Davies, a Liverpudlian who made a name for himself with semi-autobiographical films such as “Distant Voices, Still Lives” and serious-minded literary (“The House of Mirth,” “The Neon Bible”) and stage (“The Deep Blue Sea”) adaptations has died. He was … Continue reading →

Sometimes you have to use the term “classic” the way it is applied, in property tax and collectible terms, to automobiles. Anything over 25 years old is a “classic.” Yes, that means most models of the Ford Taurus can be … Continue reading →

Any list of the best vengeance thrillers of recent vintage has to include Park Chan-Wook’s “Oldboy” andHans Petter Moland’s “In Order of Disappearance.” Add your favorite here, because there are lots of examples through film history, movies about a great … Continue reading →