Author Archives: Roger Moore

The 2008 film “Departures” is a somber drama set against “the Japanese way of death,” the fastidious customs, traditions and taboos dealing with a corpse that society there still clings to. I couldn’t help but think of that film watching … Continue reading →

Netflix and Austin auteur Robert Rodriguez seem like a streamer/filmmaker match that’s meant to be. The “Sin City,” “Spy Kids” “Sharkboy/LavaGirl” director-producer, famed for knowing how to do things that look expensive cheaper than Hollywood can imagine should have been … Continue reading →

A surreal fever-dream shot in shades of David Lynch, “Some Southern Waters” makes for a polished and cryptic if not wholly coherent debut feature from writer-director Julian Baner. It’s a micro-budget indie with acting and cinematography that punch above their … Continue reading →

“Two Ways Home” is a low-key indie drama about family history, personal failures, mental health and redemption. Beautifully shot, empathetically-acted and reasonably well-written, it benefits from that essential ingredient that makes or breaks many a low-budget independent film — a … Continue reading →

“Your Name Engraved Herein” is a coming out romance set in late 1980s Taiwan, where two boarding school classmates take tentative steps to explain their sexuality in a country that was just emerging from decades of martial law, and where … Continue reading →

So it’s Farmer Paul this time around, a guise he adopted way back after the Fab breakup? Stripped down, spare and basic and not quite folksy, and going the animated route for his “official” music for this times. Lovely, water-colorish … Continue reading →

Kind of takes away what made them special, to be honest. Story looks seriously “meh” too, but we will see.

The only fair way to approach “After We Collided,” the sexed-up sequel to the romance novel adaptation “After,” is on its own terms with its intended audience in mind. If you’ve any attention to Netflix’s selection of self-produced or acquired … Continue reading →

The archetypal camp and iconic macho of Sergio Leone’s 1960s and ’70s classics dominate any discussion of “Spaghetti Westerns.” But leaving out rival Sergio Corbucci’s is not something Quentin Tarantino, for one, takes sitting down. Corbucci’s “Django” and the downbeat … Continue reading →