Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

“The Man Who Knew Infinity” is a standard-issue, overcoming-the-odds bio-pic. The hero must rise above poverty, a lack of education, racism and cultural guilt to reach the pinnacle in his field. The twist here is that this time, our hero … Continue reading →

Can you find him? There’s Benjamin Bratt and Amy Ryan and Diane Krueger and John Leguizamo, co-starring with hot-property Bryan C., onetime dentist and Jewish convert Tim Whatley. On “Seinfeld.” “The Infiltrator” looks gritty and ’80s drug trade generic, save … Continue reading →

Personal, first-person documentaries often walk a fine line between illuminating and indulgent. And Vietnam War films, especially documentaries, were a played-out genre twenty years ago. But Soren Sorensen’s “My Father’s Vietnam” manages to be both personal and informative, a memoir … Continue reading →

Oh, Alice, we’re not in Wonderland anymore. Not so much, anyway. That cheeky screenwriter Linda Woolverton (“Maleficent,” “The Lion King”) has stripped all the wonder out of it. And “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” which has precious little to do … Continue reading →

Wit, provocateur, satirist and social gadfly — “I’m famous,” Frank Zappa liked to say, “but most people don’t know what I do.” He made his living as a performer and band-leader of the Mothers of Invention, conjuring up dissonant orchestrations, … Continue reading →

Oscar winner Dianne Wiest and “Selma” star David Oleyowo clash ever-so-quietly around the edges of grief in the short and somber “Five Nights in Maine.” The debut feature of writer-director Maris Curran aims for cryptic, and she gives us only … Continue reading →

If romantic comedies were easy, Hollywood would be churning them out like comic book adaptations. But they aren’t. That magical blend of wit, warmth, chemistry and comedy evades pretty much everybody who sets out to make the perfect “date movie.” … Continue reading →

Apparently, parents are a bit shrewder about reading reviews than weekend box office prognosticators thought. Predictions that “The Angry Birds Movie” would earn a typical-for-3D animation $45 million on its opening weekend went by the wayside on Saturday, the most … Continue reading →

A bad weekend for any potential re-launch of Russell Crowe’s big screen career. That April “Saturday Night Live” bombing is followed by a somewhat over-rated, financially underwhelming “Nice Guys” opening weekend. Great, or at least consistently positive reviews aren’t helping … Continue reading →

But let’s start with “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” the sequel to the Seth Rogen/Rose Byrne fading hipster/stoner parents in revolt against their new frat bro neighbors. Passable reviews were garnered for the sequel, which sets out to prove college girls … Continue reading →