Author Archives: Roger Moore

French critics had to invent the auteur theory, a way of re-examining filmmaking artists who “pounded the same nail, over and over again” revealing themes, tropes and concepts that their cinema could reliably be counted on to deliver, for the … Continue reading →

This Dec. 10 awards-bait, blockbuster-in-the-making features Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, and bless Spielberg’s film buff heart, EGOT triple threat Rita Moreno from the Robert Wise version of the film from the ’60s. Looks promising, but remaking a classic is always … Continue reading →

An impressive if not Kong opening weekend for both of new releases this weekend. The latest version of the video game Mortal Kombat earned $22.5 million obits debut and Sony Funimation cleaned up with $19.5 for Demon Slayer. Godzilla vs … Continue reading →

Well, here’s an unexpected pleasure of the beer and sweat-drenched variety. “Golden Arm” is a brassy, scruffy comedy set in the truck-stops, honky-tonks and BFE “civic centers of arm wrestling. The hook? They’re all women, and they’re all funny. The … Continue reading →

The final film of Japanese director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi is meant to be a sweeping, playful three hour survey of Japanese culture, history and militarism as seen through its movies — a “Labyrinth of Cinema.” He cast actors as local film … Continue reading →

New Line/Warner Brothers put some money on the screen for their latest attempt at making “Mortal Kombat” a big screen thing. A $9 million Friday suggests that paid off. Fans are on track to make it at $25-$30 million hit … Continue reading →

At his hit TV-show peak and just after, the most interesting things attached to Jerry Seinfeld were products of his wealth — how rich he was, how he could afford that vast and growing car collection, the romantic predicaments he … Continue reading →

Gaslighting or Alzheimer’s? Possessed or worse? A title speaks volumes in this May 21 release.

You may think you’ve seen every pull-out-all-the-stops, spend all the money, make-a-laugh-a-minute romps the cinema had to offer in the “Mad Mad Mad World,” “Italian Job” ’60s and “Silent Movie” to “1941” ’70s. But if you’ve missed the French farce … Continue reading →

Almost everything the great Chinese director Zhang Yimou touches takes on the feel of an “epic.” So if the director of “House of Flying Daggers,” “The Great Wall,” “Hero” and “Flowers of War” turns his camera towards the Spy Game, … Continue reading →