Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

In the best picture of 2015, Carey Mulligan is the stoic, long-suffering sweatshop worker radicalized into action. Helena Bonham-Carter the pharmacist who would have been a doctor had women in Britain been allowed into that profession. Brendan Gleeson is the … Continue reading →

The Commandant is carefully tutoring his boy soldier, Agu. He teaches him discipline. He inflames the child’s rage at the government troops who summarily executed his father and gunned down his fleeing brother. Final test? Draw blood. “Agu,” the silky-sinister … Continue reading →

Kind of a dismal fall at the box office, for those bothering to take notice. Since most people aren’t going to the movies, that “take notice” seems to be a rare quality, relatively speaking. “Burnt” is a star vehicle for … Continue reading →

The most shocking thing about “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,” is that four hacks fought to have their names listed in the credits under “screenplay.” Seriously. It’s the same house, or location. It’s the same set-up — family spooked/stalked by … Continue reading →

“Burnt” is Bradley Cooper’s “Cocktail,” a trendy, slick and superficial romance built around a seriously one-dimensional performance. It’s a foodie movie whose credits are riddled with big-name chef consultants — Gordon Ramsay, Mario Bitali. The meals are Michelin Guide ready … Continue reading →

We don’t really remember that decade of bad Sandra Bullock movies that came before her Oscar winning turn in “The Blind Side.” We just remember how she looked. The pratfalls might be half-hearted, the misty-eyed appeal to sentiment might be … Continue reading →

Here’s what shooting your heist picture in a single take gives you — breathless tension. The viewer can sense the lack of edits, the feeling that you’re hurtling along, with the characters and the hand-held cameraman, on a downward spiral. … Continue reading →

A big weekend for big or not-so-big budget bombs. Consider… Vin Diesel is not a box office star when he’s not behind the wheel of assorted Dodge products. “The Last Witch Hunter” won’t reach the $10 million mark by midnight … Continue reading →

She has been imprisoned for seven years, locked in a soundproof shed with only a skylight and a TV to connect her to the outside world. Her son is turning five. He was the product of a rape by her … Continue reading →

Bill Murray, a funnyman who long ago lost his fastball, was foolish to entrust his “comeback” star-vehicle to screenwriter Mitch Glazer, who never had one. “Rock the Kasbah” is an old school/Old Murray comedy, the type he would have knocked … Continue reading →