Author Archives: Roger Moore

“The Wake of Light” is a dreamy, reflective movie, something of an interior monologue delivered by a stoic loner living out her limited life in a small town in the Southwest. It’s built on lots of solitary (mostly) walks through … Continue reading →

Oh the horrors of a horror film that’s not the least bit horrifying. “Black Box” is pitched as a paranoid thriller, a sort of supernatural twist “Get Out” built on that over-used horror effect, the inverted human crab (seen above). … Continue reading →

Old movie reviewing trick, comparing a movie to a mash-up of two earlier movies. It’s a shortcut, sure. But hey, I’m not too proud to lean on it. The Romanian documentary “Acasă, My Home” is “Beasts of the Southern Wild” … Continue reading →

A North Dakota rancher accused of neglecting his livestock becomes a fictional Big Conspiracy wingnut wet dream in “The Stand at Paxton County,” a nasty little piece of prairie propaganda that no film distributor would touch but Netflix has picked … Continue reading →

The National Archives has most of the papers and all of the tapes recorded in the FBI’s years of surveilling Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. under lock and key, hidden from public view until 2027. So there’s nothing salacious in … Continue reading →

You read enough sloppy Cary Grant biographies, you tend to give up on him as a subject and spend your Golden Age of Hollywood reading time on less controversial icons of the era. But when Oxford University Press puts an … Continue reading →

Adam shows up at a “surprise” birthday party thrown in a bar thrown for him, where no one knows him other that his “best friend.” “I’m your best friend, and I hate you.” At least Kyle (Nore Davis) sets him … Continue reading →

At a key moment in the volcanic-theme-park-erupts thriller “Skyfire,” a young woman and her lover leave behind the Chinese SUV full of scientists and the park owner’s wife to see about the young woman’s grandfather just down the road. Exploding … Continue reading →

Breeding and bloodlines are sources of whimsy and trauma in “Rams,” a winning dramedy set in Australian sheep country. Sam Neill and Michael Caton play loners — feuding brothers Colin and Les — stuck on adjacent ranches, never speaking, bitter … Continue reading →