Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

Sometimes, you can pinpoint with smart-bomb accuracy the moment a movie goes wrong. In the manhunt thriller “21 Bridges,” it concerns a mass murderer/”double tap” cop killer, an underworld “banker” he’s just held a gun on, and an Alcoholics Anonymous token. … Continue reading →

This is one of two or three end of year films I have been looking forward to, police racial harassment, a traffic stop escalated, a “Dirty Larry Crazy Mary” escape-flee “spree” (NOT “Bonnie & Clyde”). Looks gripping.

Let’s lower the bar here, straight off. Say you’re snowed in, the kids are going stir crazy and you’ve still got power and Netflix. If those kids are “over” “Home Alone,” and not yet in their picky/discriminating taste years (say … Continue reading →

It’s good to see Chadwick Boseman taking a shot at something that’s not a high minded biopic (“Marshall,’”Get on Up,” “42”) or a Black Panther turn. But early reviews on this genre cop thriller have been weak. STX is still … Continue reading →

Intimate, evocative and lurid, “Waves” captures the heat of youth and the fog one family navigates through as parents try to guide two teens to adulthood in Greater Miami. Writer-director Trey Edward Shults, in a major departure from his best … Continue reading →

Channeling one’s inner five year-old girl isn’t much help when considering the thin charms of “Frozen 2.” It plays like an animated musical built around forgettable tunes and impressive animated effects that were cooked up before the script was decided … Continue reading →

A South Florida father trying to guide his kids to a better life, young love. A trailer that gives you just enough.

    There’s little forward motion or narrative drive to “Earthquake Bird,” a moody whodunit set in 1989 Tokyo. But Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and director Wash Westmoreland (“Still Alice,” “Collette”) almost render that deficiency moot. It’s a chilling exercise … Continue reading →

The holiday season seems like the perfect time for “The Messiest Dramedy of the Year” to show its face. That’s what “After Class” is, a movie that grabs at a lot of themes, subtexts and characters and doesn’t really wrestle … Continue reading →

That’s what is missing from the Variety analysis linked below. The notion that the audience is not merely tiring of “tired” franchises, but that something broader might be in play. A year filled with “unoriginals” which have flopped —“Shaft,” “Terminator: … Continue reading →