Author Archives: Roger Moore

Veteran character actor Louis Mandylor and a bunch of similarly-seasoned friends took off for Thailand to play at war in “3 Days in Malay,” an almost comically ahistorical, geographically-and-everything else inept version of the epic Guadalcanal Campaign. A hellish struggle … Continue reading →

A wistful Japanese drama from Kôji Fukada touches on the fragile nature of relationships and the struggle to do right by people. Something like that. An Aug. 11 release from our hip friends at Oscilloscope Laboratories, so you know I’m … Continue reading →

Maybe the most famous apology Mel Gibson ever made — “famous” because he’s not known for apologizing — was for a film he produced and starred in directed by the legendary Wim Wenders, of “Wings of Desire” and “Paris, Texas,” … Continue reading →

The bar’s pretty high on zombie movies these days. Show us something fresh, maybe with a bit of subtext, and surprise us. Or don’t bother. “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” is a Japanese multi-media franchise riff on a … Continue reading →

Insights and blunt psychological and sociological truths thumb-wrestle with “twee” all the way through actor Randall Park’s directing debut, “Shortcomings,” an Asian American rom-com that comments on Asian-American rom-coms. Equal measures witty, bittersweet and trite, it lands laughs and body-blows … Continue reading →

“The Meg 2: The Trench” loses the benefit of being an off-the-wall big-budget B-movie surprise, and it loses most of the laughs served up by the monster movie that took the summer of 2018 by surprise. It’s still built around … Continue reading →

Joe Manganiello is the hit man who dabbles with a brush to keep their dirty business “legit.” Maya Hawke and Debi Mazar join”Pulp Fiction” cast mates Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson in a star&studded ensemble that sounds like “Ozark,” … Continue reading →

The true story of a Korean diplomat kidnapped in civil war-torn Lebanon in the ’80s becomes the most exciting, most entertaining buddy picture in years —“Ransomed” — the best action pic of the summer. Sorry, Mr. Cruise. Shoot-outs, car chases, … Continue reading →

“Soulcatcher” is a solid if somewhat flatly-directed shoot-em-up thriller from Poland, a movie interesting to fans of the “special skills” commando “extraction” genre chiefly due to the ways it differs from such slam-bang action features in The West. There’s this … Continue reading →

Ah, the Films of August. They’re always like this. But you never know when a good one might sneak in under the radar. “Storage Locker” film about a comic book collector who digs for hidden collectible treasure in a couple … Continue reading →