Author Archives: Roger Moore

“Voices” opens with a moment of what looks like torture porn — two women, strapped down or strung up, trapped by some unseen tormentor. But that fictive present is abandoned for most of the rest of this sleepwalking, sleep-inducing thriller. … Continue reading →

She’s almost certainly expecting too much when she makes that first call. “Hi Dan. I just wanted to say that I’m OK and that I’m back now.” Knocking on his door just confirms it. You can’t “just show up,” Dan … Continue reading →

If you remember your documentaries, you’ll recall that a certain Detroit singer was huge in South Africa in the late ’70s and onward. It’s still a little jarring for a 1981 period piece to confirm that, soldiers cleaning their rifles … Continue reading →

A broken-hearted guy not quite getting over a breakup lets us see his pain, his world and what’s funny about it in this April 30 release from Samuel Goldwyn.

“Moffie” is a South African “Full Metal Jacket,” a drama about the dehumanizing nature of combat training, the need to turn “soft” conscripts into unquestioning killing machines and an arm of foreign policy and the psychic cost that can have. … Continue reading →

Young love is tested by illness and honesty issues in “Caught by a Wave,” a scenic Italian romance set against a sailing backdrop. The leads are pretty and the locales romantic, but the scenario is generic and the pacing funereal … Continue reading →

Filmgoers tend to assume they’re watching “the director’s cut” of pretty much every movie we see. But despite having the job title that suggests final arbiter of “my film,” that’s often not the case. Producers and studio execs are shorten … Continue reading →

With popcorn movies like “Godzilla vs. Kong,” the main thing is getting the tone right. Outside of kaiju cultists, nobody takes this nonsense seriously. So the movie should reflect that. Comic relief characters like the conspiracy nut Bernie (Brian Tyree … Continue reading →

Kind of a bummer that they’re reunited in an American armored car guard pic. Scott Eastwood is in it But beggars can’t be choosers, right?

Leave it to Mother Russia to come up with the most complex nesting doll of a series, a darkly comic tale of suspense and interlocking stories originally produced for Russian TV. “An Ordinary Woman” reeks of cultural rot and personal … Continue reading →