Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

Movie Review: A Child’s turn as Robinson Crusoe in “Kensuke’s Kingdom”

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Kensuke’s Kingdom” is a simply but attractively animated film based on a Michael Morpurgo novel. The novel, in turn, is based on the classic tale “Robinson Crusoe,” here modernized to place a shipwrecked boy and his dog in tropical paradise, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: A Child’s turn as Robinson Crusoe in “Kensuke’s Kingdom”

Movie Review: Glenn Close stars in a “Beach Read” that might cure insomnia — “The Summer Book”

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Roger Moore

“The Summer Book” is a picturesque period piece based on a novel Tove Jannson wrote, inspired by her own experiences living on an island in the Gulf of Finland. It aims for “lyrical” and “meditative” as it tells the story … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: Glenn Close stars in a “Beach Read” that might cure insomnia — “The Summer Book”

Classic Film Review: A Grifter Dramedy Urtext –“Elegant Beast” (1962)

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Roger Moore

Before “Parasite,” before “Shoplifters,” and even before “The Grifters,” there was the darkly comic Japanese morality play “Elegant Beast,” which makes the old W.C. Fields saying, “You can’t cheat an honest man” universal. Yûzô Kawashima’s 1962 film, titled “Shitoyakana kedamono,” … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Classic Film Review: A Grifter Dramedy Urtext –“Elegant Beast” (1962)

Movie Preview: An Adrien Brody epic in Ayn Randian Tones — “The Brutalist”

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Roger Moore

Actor turned director and co-writer Brady Corbet (“Vox Lux”) named the hero of his immigrant saga Lazlo Toth, the name of the fellow who busted up a famous statue way back when. Not the same fellow, but what’s really interesting … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Movie Preview: An Adrien Brody epic in Ayn Randian Tones — “The Brutalist”

Movie Review: Belgium’s hope for an Oscar nomination? “Julie Keeps Quiet”

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Roger Moore

She wants to become a professional tennis player, so Julie stays focused. She’s a teen, and if wants to continue to train Julie knows she has to keep her eye on the ball, on and off the court. Julie has … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: Belgium’s hope for an Oscar nomination? “Julie Keeps Quiet”

Netflixable? Eric Bana and Sadie Sink are a father and daughter staring down a cult — “A Sacrifice”

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Roger Moore

“A Sacrifice” is a thriller about an American father who is the last to realize that his daughter’s being recruited by a German cult. As Ben Monroe is an expert on “groupthink” and cult behavior, this is humbling. He’s the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Netflixable? Eric Bana and Sadie Sink are a father and daughter staring down a cult — “A Sacrifice”

Movie Preview: “The Strangers” are back — “The Strangers: Chapter 2”

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Roger Moore

This teaser trailer promises a Fundamentalist variation on a theme — at least on the car radio — pursued unto death in the masked murderers tale “The Strangers.” The IMDB page of this Renny Harlin “I’m BACK, baby!” sequel — … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Movie Preview: “The Strangers” are back — “The Strangers: Chapter 2”

Movie Preview: “The Vanishing?” David Schwimmer’s BACK, and in “Goosebumps”

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Roger Moore

Schwimmer tells “Dad Jokes” before going all “Red ROSS” on kids and neighbors over something that happened in the city decades ago. Looks fun, I have to say. Good to see Schwimmer kvetching and kvelling on screen again. Jan. 10, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Comments Off on Movie Preview: “The Vanishing?” David Schwimmer’s BACK, and in “Goosebumps”

Classic Film Review: Was “Caligula” (1976, ’79, 2024) as bad as we remember?

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Roger Moore

No matter how scorned by one generation of film critics and/or filmgoers, once a movie is finished and preserved for all time there’s always a chance of “rediscovery” and reevaluation by film fans of the future. “Lost” films come back … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Classic Film Review: Was “Caligula” (1976, ’79, 2024) as bad as we remember?

Netflixable? A TV reporter fakes his way to folk hero status — “The Man Who Loved UFOs”

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Roger Moore

In the 1980s, Argentina became the new epicenter of the UFO conspiracy universe as an intrepid and enterprising TV reporter doggedly pursued and then presented “proof” of a UFO landing in the mountains of rural Argentina. His breathless, credulous reporting … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Netflixable? A TV reporter fakes his way to folk hero status — “The Man Who Loved UFOs”