Author Archives: Roger Moore

The great filmmaker Andrey Konchalovskiy knows that sentimentality and nostalgia are poison pills, and has never been shy about making films that defy that maudlin tendency of Mother Russia. The director of “Maria’s Lovers” and “Runaway Train,” the films he’s … Continue reading →

People who’re seriously down the rabbit hole on any given subject are fascinating specimens, and often make for engrossing magazine profiles, book-length studies or documentary dissections. Chess fans or “The Shining” fanatics, Scrabble buffs or orchid thieves, we never tire … Continue reading →

So many movies about Mary Shelley and the writing of “Frankenstein,” and yet there’s always room for another bad one. “A Nightmare Wakes,” coming entirely too soon after the bigger budget/name cast “Mary Shelley,” or for that matter “Gothic” and … Continue reading →

Men watching “4×4” might breathe a sigh of relief when Ciro, trapped inside a locked-and-bulletproof Toyota Highlander, reaches into the glove compartment and consults the owner’s manual. Women viewers? We know you’re going to roll your eyes, so just get … Continue reading →

The “comedy of manners” is a long-established tradition of Western fiction. Jane Austen collected a lot of posthumous Oscars mastering that genre. The “tragedy of manners” is less common, limited to the occasional “Remains of the Day.” But if any … Continue reading →

The interminable horror period piece “The Reckoning” is a picture out of its time. It’s a Restoration plague, swirling amidst witch hunters, witch trials and positively Medieval punishments. Let’s give Neil Marshall (“The Descent”) and his team the benefit of … Continue reading →

The answer to that rhetorical question headline is “Yeah, pretty much.” David Fincher’s brutal, sprawling fever-dream of Incel America can seem prescient, 22 years after its release. It crossed over into cult status sometime before the lunatic right embraced its … Continue reading →

First time I ever saw “Saturday Night Live” this band with Hitler on keyboards appeared. I thought it was another comedy element of the show. This film just premiered at Sundance.

I see this stacked in my “warm clothes” collection at my mother’s place in frigid N.C., a studio-provided turtleneck from the days when critics were critical, films were shot on celluloid and Michael Palin might be just the priest to … Continue reading →

Shudder has this one, which starts streaming Feb. 4. Creepy?