Author Archives: Roger Moore

Good acting and sharp editing make “The Barber” a most engrossing serial killer thriller. But too much talk, mostly in a lecturing over-explained finale, almost undoes all of that. Scott Glenn has the title role, a Chicago man once a … Continue reading →

“Home” is a energetic, obvious animated comedy packed with the sort of low humor and silly laughs that drive very small children wild. It’s a lesser Dreamworks work, in other words, no more ambitious than those later “Madagascar” movies. There’s … Continue reading →

The time-honored actor/actress tradition of “if Hollywood won’t hire me, I’ll make work for myself” is the origin story of “Apartment Troubles,” a nearly laughless comedy that doesn’t do its writer/director/stars any favors. But cute character comics Jennifer Prediger (“Life … Continue reading →

Budapest, Hungary, has a serious PR problem thanks to the movie “White God.” The film, a grimly dark satire, depicts a city of serious dog haters — from ordinary apartment tenants intolerant of canines, to the homeless who steal them, … Continue reading →

In her native Denmark, director Susanne Bier makes intimate, emotional and even allegorical dramas such as “After the Wedding” and “In a Better World.” In Hollywood, she’s a little lost, shoehorned into flat melodramas such as “Things We Lost in … Continue reading →

Kevin Hart finds himself shoehorned into a Will Ferrell buddy comedy in “Get Hard,” a politically incorrect romp that only rarely romps. It’s a “Trading Places” variation, with Ferrell as James, a top dollar fund manager busted by the Feds … Continue reading →

British funnyman Simon Pegg brings a humorous edge to his dark turn as a private eye/hired killer in the Aussie thriller “Kill Me Three Times.” It’s kind of a “Blood Simple” from Down Under, with a love triangle, crooked cop … Continue reading →

Hard to work up a lot of enthusiasm for this week’s big screen offerings. “Insurgent” never overcomes the cynical hackwork “commissioned” YA novel —  cut and paste formula fiction without an original thought in it — that was its source. … Continue reading →

If Hollywood was to adopt “The Walking Deceased” business model, they’d never spend another dime on actors, known writers and L.A. film crews for a horror spoof. It would be the end of the “Scary Movie” phenomenon, as we know … Continue reading →