Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

Over the decades, “queer cinema” has largely confined itself to three basic plots. There were dramas about about transgression, furtive love or lust, and persecution for “the love that dare not speak its name.” “Prick Up Your Ears” and most … Continue reading →

The “excruciating” “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” was on pace late Thursday and all through Friday to hit the $40 million mark on its opening weekend. If it doesn’t, blame word-of-mouth. Reviews aren’t killing it, but they’re not complimenting the tastes … Continue reading →

In his seven decades as a movie and TV star, Harry Dean Stanton rarely had to carry a picture. Stanton, who died earlier this month at the ripe old age of 91, was a character actor — the consummate supporting … Continue reading →

Mixed reviews — OK pans — aren’t expected to tamp down turnout for “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” and “The LEGO Ninjanga Movie” this weekend. Both are predicted to best “It” in its third weekend of release. But will the clear … Continue reading →

American romantic comedies that even halfway work are so rare that one which manages a little pathos and maybe five actual belly-laughs should be cut a little slack. Which could be Justin Long’s motto as a leading man. No, that’s … Continue reading →

Ben Stiller gives his most soulful, vulnerable performance ever in his new film, “Brad’s Status.” Writer-director Mike White (“The Good Girl,” “Year of the Dog”) has conjured up a gentle, realistic and melancholy midlife for Stiller to act out, one … Continue reading →

The horror trope that “social media can get you killed” has already led to assorted thrillers with the title “Unfriended,” one of them popular enough to warrant “Unfriended 2.” So that working title for the movie that became “Friend Request” … Continue reading →

It’s always a call for celebration when a major studio puts money and effort behind a picture aimed at an audience over the age of 25. But the second “Murder on the Orient Express” trailer underlines some pretty big questions … Continue reading →

Wes Anderson’s latest is set in a Japan where dogs have been exiled to a garbage island, where a 12 year-old dodges the quarantine in search of his pet. Bryan Cranston is the one voice that stands out in the … Continue reading →

Although there are many ways to tell the story of how a writer’s life informs his or her talent, there’s something to be said for literary biographies that narrow their focus, zeroing on in a signal event that made a … Continue reading →