Author Archives: Roger Moore

Feel good movies are a universal language, a cinema lover’s comfort food whose formula crosses borders and language barriers. I dare say “Kitchen Brigade” would amuse, tickle and touch in most any language. But the year’s first winner in this … Continue reading →

David Arquette, Amy Smart, Irene Bedard, Frances Fisher, Mariel Hemingway, and Tom Cruise’s actor/screenwriter brother William Mapother are the stars. This politically-environmentally charged drama, scripted by Mapother, comes out Friday (Jan. 13).

“Beautiful Beings” is a rough and harrowing coming-of-age drama in the tradition of “Kids,” “Thirteen” and “My Own Private Idaho.” Any hint of “Stand by Me” romanticized boy bonding is smothered where we fear these unparented, impulsive 13-year-olds will end … Continue reading →

Mr. “Midsommar/Hereditary” Ari Aster has a paranoid new comedy opening April 24. Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Patti Lupone and Parker Posey star in this hallucinogenic hostage farce. It looks nuts.

Once upon a time, at the tale end of the Golden Age of the Spaghetti Western, a couple of canny Italian producers and directors figured out that at home and abroad, a big chunk of the audience for those oddball … Continue reading →

Actor turned writer-director Jesse Eisenberg‘s feature directing debut turns out to be just the sort of film you’d expect from the “Social Network/Now You See Me” star. “When You Finish Saving the World” is smart and articulate. It’s flippant. There’s … Continue reading →

It’s called “The Most Dangerous Game” and it is the most overused, beaten-to-death thriller plot of all. I’ve reviewed scores of these “Man…is the most DANGEROUS game” to hunt thrillers. And I’m wholly prepared to call this heartless, pulse-free corpse … Continue reading →

What, again with the incantations, the pentagrams, the “protective circle” of ashes? Another ancient text turns to flames when you say the wrong thing? Another horned demon skittering up the walls? Oy! “The Offering” is a New York Jewish trip … Continue reading →

The movies that matter in your life burn into the memory that first encounter with them.I saw “Chariots of Fire” at a preview in Charlotte, N.C., with local college and high school track teams in attendance, at a now long-closed … Continue reading →

“Under Her Control” is a surrogacy-gone-wrong thriller wrapped in a “Devil Wears Prada” package. This Spanish melodrama starts slowly and lumbers towards a Big Finish that isn’t nearly big enough to atone for the tedium that precedes it. First-time feature … Continue reading →