Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

Mila Kunis is the half of that Mila/Ashton couple that still has a big screen career. Kate McKinnon? She’s the star, the glue who holds “Saturday Night Live” together.” Lots of shots at movies, this one is the first that … Continue reading →

A Westernized Amsterdam teen struggles with her Muslim identity in “Layla M.,” the Dutch submission for Oscar contention in 2016. It’s a movie that squares off the pressure to assimilate with the teenage need to rebel as Layla, vividly portrayed … Continue reading →

“Flock of Four” is a clumsily-titled but warm and likable amble through the 1950s LA jazz scene. Co-writer director Gregory Caruso conjures up a lightly amusing quest comedy that finds its edge in the subject of race, its warmth in … Continue reading →

A conventional coming-of-age-while-poor narrative serves up plenty of unconventional twists in “Lean on Pete,” a dusty, downbeat tale set on the margins of horse racing. That’s a world 15 year-old Charley (Charlie Plummer) discovers one summer day while strolling past … Continue reading →

A “Jackass” take on the sort of old school Southern amusement park (not, um, OSHA compliant) with Johnny Knoxville in grandfatherly make up — at least for part of it. No, it’s not “Bad Grandpa,” but it is slapstick of … Continue reading →

Apparently, in the future, getting your hands on good hot sauce is like having cigarettes in prison. The currency of the day. Even in Chinese future “Pacific Rim” films imagine and embrace. Would never have recognized the stuff, as I … Continue reading →

“Counterfeiters” is an ambitious, abridged thriller about a hustler who figures out a DIY way of making funny money. A short, low-budget affair, it’s more of a prospectus than a polished, finished feature. Think of it as a calling card … Continue reading →

The trailer is freaking hilarious. The premise? A game of “tag” that lasts a lifetime? Through marriage cross-country moves, and childbirth, death and ruin? And it’s a true story? Slapshticky, sentimental, great cast. Renner goes Action Jackson, Hannibal Buress puts … Continue reading →

It’s a gimmick, a stunt, a filmmaking exercise. Shooting your movie on an iPhone? That’s for aspiring filmmakers, somebody looking for a cheap way to shoot a movie and a headline-grabbing hook when you’re pitching it to film festivals. Sean … Continue reading →

Put it down to diminished expectations or what have you, but there’s a surprising delicacy to “Midnight Sun,” a teen weeper built around Bella Thorne. You may know what to expect, if you’ve seen “A Walk to Remember” or “Everything, … Continue reading →