Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

Movie Preview: “Hereditary” is smart horror the A24 way

Long been a big fan of A24 Films, the best of the arty boutique film distributors (“Ex Machina,” “Lady Bird,” “The Florida Project,” “The Disaster Artist,” etc.). Here’s the trailer to their upcoming horror tale, “Hereditary,” starring Toni Collette and … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Not Much There in”The Boy Downstairs”

There’s not much to say about the enervated romance “The Boy Downstairs,” except that literally every character and actor playing that character is more interesting than the leads. Every last one of them, down to the accented waiter at the … Continue reading →

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Movie Preview: More Marvel Miniaturized Mayhem, “Ant Man and The Wasp”

Paul Rudd makes one of the more amusing superheroes, and if Evangeline Lilly isn’t forced to be the straight woman, this could be fun. It opens July 6, with Hannah John-Kamen, Walton Goggins, Laurence Fishburne and Michael Douglas in support.

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“The Last Jedi” vs. “The Force Awakens,” diminishing audience, diminishing enthusiasm in a single screenshot

As I was the first to tell you, as I’ve been telling you all along —  Disney is getting very rich by slowly bleeding enthusiasm for “Star Wars” to death. Courtesy of Box Office Mojo.

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Movie Preview: Wim Wenders “Submergence”

A hostage thriller/ethereal deep sea exploration romance, primal connections to the water, the womb and each other. Deep stuff. Very Wim Wenders. The vibe of this trailer for the film based on the J.M. Ledgard novel has only the vaguest … Continue reading →

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“Winchester” has an Oscar winner, a primo release date, but…

I had high hopes for the Gothic horror “based on a true story” tale “Winchester.” It’s not a Hammer Films release, but CBS is distributing it, like the late-winter Gothic hit “Woman  in Black” of a few years back. It … Continue reading →

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Netflixable? “Hired Gun” Showcases more Musicians in the Shadows

Stick with me a minute, as this is a peek at music through the lens of a movie critic and occasional concert goer and reviewer. There was this telling on-camera moment back in the 2008 “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Ellen Page fends off Zombies in “The Cured”

  “The Cured” is a zombie movie heavy with allegory and political subtext. No zombie movie or TV show has a reason to exist without those elements. Only video games and films that aspire to their often amoral aesthetic get … Continue reading →

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Netflixable? “A Futile and Stupid Gesture” embraces the Troubled Genius behind The National Lampoon

I didn’t have high hopes for the new bio-comedy, “A Futile and Stupid Gesture,” a not-quite-all-star remembrance of the comic genius behind “The National Lampoon” and “Animal House.” After all, Doug Kenney, the magazine’s co-founder, was ably memorialized in the … Continue reading →

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Book Review: A dilettante’s guide to “Wayne and Ford: The Films, The Friendship and the Making of an American Hero”

‘ The last line of “True Grit” is, “Come see a fat old man some time,” as John Wayne jumps a fence and rides off into the sunset, one more time. It’s a piece of movie lore, well-known by any … Continue reading →

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