Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

I don’t make it a habit to watch the Golden Globes. Yeah, “La La Land” may be destined to win the best picture Oscar. But as they unloaded all their love on various Brits last night (“The Crown”? Ahem.) for … Continue reading →

The weekend’s blizzard over much of the northeast made calling the movie box office race tough until late Saturday night. For a while, it looked as if “Hidden Figures,” the historic drama about African American mathematicians and the early space … Continue reading →

Veteran indie writer-director Maggie Greenwald’s best-known films — “The Ballad of Little Jo” and “Songcatcher” — are period pieces, fish-out-of-water romances. And all of her films have the refreshing novelty of being told from a female point of view. “Sophie … Continue reading →

The mischievous twinkle never quite dims in the eyes of the two guys nicknamed, for the purpose of a documentary about them,  “The Sunshine Makers.” And since the film’s about Tim Scully and Nicholas Sand, the “Orange Sunshine” manufacturers who … Continue reading →

Few have articulated America’s ongoing struggles with race better than the African-American writer and social critic James Baldwin. “We carry our history with us,” he said. He wanted to make certain we understood that. A gay man, he fled the … Continue reading →

He’s well turned-out and driving a Mercedes. But you know the minute the black gloves come out that he’s up to no good. In the movies, guys who wear black gloves are hit-men or burglars, to a one. Besides, he’s … Continue reading →

The numbers for Disney/Lucasfilm’s “Rogue One” just keeping piling up — another $50 million weekend, $60 million+ over the four-day holiday. Closing in on $700 million, worldwide. Passing “Captain America: Civil War,” to be the second highest grossing film of … Continue reading →

The thing about bad movies is how rarely they stick with you, how utterly forgettable they are. Anybody remember “Clown Town,” “Max Steel,” “Incarnate,” or the last ever “Divergent” theatrical film? Me either. “Run the Tide?” Yeah, that one starred … Continue reading →

There is novelty in the idea of Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon as a sow singing Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” or “Fireworks,” by Swift’s arch enemy, Katy Perry. That Reese, a real peace maker. And her fellow Oscar winner, Matthew … Continue reading →

Here’s a documentary about unflappable, relentlessly optimistic educators and “The Bad Kids” they’re guiding — or dragging, kicking and sleeping (in class)– towards a high school diploma. Black Rock High School is in scenic but remote and limited Joshua Tree, … Continue reading →