Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

One can abide many things from a screen comedy, but “pointlessness” is a real hard sell for me. That’s a major gripe about the Italian farce “The Price of Family,” titled “Natale a tutti i costi” in the mother tongue. … Continue reading →

Silent cinema isn’t for everyone, because not everyone is curious about the building blocks of modern cinema, how filmmakers from the era before “Babylon,” before the talkies, invented the language and techniques of storytelling with a camera. But if you’re … Continue reading →

A couple of things I’ve picked up reviewing TV series, short or long form, over the years. They’re a big investment in time, if you want to do a show justice. Three, four or five episodes are kind of a … Continue reading →

Emma Mackey plays the “Wuthering Heights” author in this early 19th century period piece from director Frances O’Connor. Bleecker Street is distributing “Emily” in the US, late Feb. at an art cinema near you.

It’s not cricket to talk about a film’s third and finale in a review, because that could lead to “spoilers” and one mustn’t reveal those. One just mustn’t. But as I’m breaking format here and using the poster to “Condor’s … Continue reading →

God, I have MISSED this version of Jonah Hill — the riffing, slanging, offending, hip-hop-quoting, “best joke in the room wins” Jonah. “You People” is a comic throwback, an all-star Jonah and Lauren and Nia, Julia and Eddie, Mike Epps … Continue reading →

Let us now praise screen legends, ladies of a certain age still donning the greasepaint, still saving their best for their closeups. “80 for Brady” packs an entire generation of screen queens into the same movie for a comedy about … Continue reading →

The further we get away from a war, the more vital it is that there be SOMEbody on a set who can keep the cast and crew from making fools of themselves when you’re making a combat film. “Military consultant,” … Continue reading →

He was son of one of the great character actors, a member of John Ford’s repertory company. He was brother of a TV icon, and brother to an original “Nerd.” And the siblings worked on a favorite Western of mine, … Continue reading →

There’s value in taking on a first-rate villain. Ask Michael Keaton about that. And what villainy could be more personal and relatable than an obnoxious “tenant” with “rights” who simply refuses to leave, and cannot be easily evicted? Remember Keaton … Continue reading →