Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

The weeks of abuse for this review of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” seemed like they would go on forever. “Glib facsimile” became an Internet meme. And then, it stopped. Because others came out as thinking the movie was a recycled … Continue reading →

The Ape Man goes into the “Heart of Darkness” in this generation’s version of “The Legend of Tarzan.” Which is an interesting place to park a story and a character fraught with the potential for racist/imperialist undertones from the moment … Continue reading →

A tip of the hat, then, to Brian Tyler, the REAL star of “Now You See Me 2,” a sequel ordained by the same logic that gave us “Neighbors 2.” As in, the first film was just enough of a … Continue reading →

    The Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn makes movies with more tone than tension, more feel than feeling. Every shot is immaculately composed and often held several beats too long. Can’t move on until the viewer’s had a chance to … Continue reading →

  Daniel Radcliffe has his most useful role ever in “Swiss Army Man,” a dark, existential comedy of dizzying originality. Because Radcliffe has the title role, that of a corpse who washes up on a beach to “save” a shipwrecked, … Continue reading →

This is the final trailer, probably, and the last chance, almost certainly, to make a pitch for this late-summer blockbuster. Well-cut, somber, sharp, but there’s no sign of lightness, the flippancy one would expect from a Simon Pegg scripted take … Continue reading →

Steven Spielberg reunites with his “E.T.” screenwriter to adapt Roald Dahl’s “The BFG,” which stands for “Big, Friendly Giant.” He cast his “Bridge of Spies” Oscar winner, Mark Rylance, in the title role, and showcases the current state-of-the-motion-capture-animation art in … Continue reading →

A weak Thursday night, strong Friday left prognosticators thinking “Independence Day: Resurgence” might hit $45 million this weekend. No. Bad reviews and a general audience ennui about what was never more than dumb fun — dumb even by 1996 standards … Continue reading →

I’ve been a fan of the tall, imposing Irish actor Ciarán Hinds at least since “Persuasion,”perhaps my favorite Jane Austen adaptation. His quiet, vulnerable and austere turn in that one – he’s a soldier in love with the heroine, but … Continue reading →

They waited twenty years to make it, there is no Will Smith, but “Independence Day: Resurgence” didn’t come out of the gate a total bust. The lack of early warning reviews (Fox didn’t preview this POS because they knew what … Continue reading →