Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

Gun-fetishizing, catch-phrasing, “Back in Black” set mayhem from a cranky old action star and a torture porn famous director. Yay.

So what has Hollywood shoved down our throats too often and for too long over recent decades? Hit-man movies –as thrillers and comedies. And Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. The aged body builder’s slide into irrelevance probably won’t be halted by a … Continue reading →

The long strange odyssey of Christian Bale’s Oscar-winning/cape wearing career takes another turn with “Hostiles,” a Western of moral ambiguity, dust and violence. Back in the Golden Age of Movies, leading men had benchmark roles. You did your combat film, … Continue reading →

A little “Kinsey,” a hint of “The Whole Wide World,” and the secret history of the character who inspired the year’s biggest box office hit — “Wonder Woman.” And the story of the man, the two women he loved (and … Continue reading →

  “American Made” gives Tom Cruise his “Goodfellas,” and brings Doug “The Bourne Identity” Liman back from the directing wilderness. In Barry Seal, Cruise has a real person to bite into, a drawling, unquestioning, self-delusional anti-hero who parlayed gonzo flying … Continue reading →

“Abundant Acreage Available” is an intimate, warm and slightly screwball dramedy about country people old enough to fret over where they’ll be buried, and what constitutes “our land.” It’s an indie film that reminds us of a world of actors … Continue reading →

If Dame Judi Dench was going to revisit one of her great roles in the twilight of her storied career, it had to be Queen Victoria. Her take on the sad, autocratic, fat, lonely grump who ruled over the British … Continue reading →

  So the Danish toymaker LEGO just announced massive layoffs because kids aren’t buying enough of their snap-together designer toys. Their latest movie isn’t helping the bottom line all that much. “The LEGO Ninjago Movie” opened to a paltry (for … Continue reading →

“Immortality is only a question of time!” enthuses the good Dr. West (Julio Perillan) in promotional appearances for his company, Prodigy, and its “Lazarus Project.” As this is somewhere in the not-terribly-distant future, the “time” is now. Lazarus is all … Continue reading →

  Back when he made his documentary about the calling, the life and the difficult work that being a stand-up comedian is —“Comedian” — Jerry Seinfeld gave voice, in interviews (with me and others) that his sole ambition, after his wildly successful … Continue reading →