Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

When Frederick Forsythe wrote “The Day of the Jackal” in the early ’70s, professional assassin tales were a relatively rare thing. Likewise, when Fred Zinneman made his 1973 benchmark Euro-thriller film of the story of a killer rogue French right … Continue reading →

Crackling dialogue, bluff, brittle performances and a plot riddled with “coincidences” and saddled with clumsy, chatty villains characterize “Nightfall,” a fin de noir thriller from Jacques Tourneur. It features linebacker-in-a-suit Aldo Ray as a commercial artist fleeing two murderous bank … Continue reading →

The packed Thursday night preview in Durham NC I saw “Deadpool & Wolverine” should have been the tell. It’s on thousands of screens, some 3D, many IMAX, and thanks to that and the fact that theaters nationwide gave it just … Continue reading →

“The Arctic Convoy” is a taut, old-fashioned World War II thriller detailing the grim realities of civilian merchant seamen sent in harm’s way to deliver supplies to the Soviet Union to ensure Nazi Germany would be fighting a two-front war … Continue reading →

Netflix has this fractious, sentimental dramedy — “Awards Season” ready — which premieres in Sept.

Mark Mothersbaugh, of Devo and “The LEGO Movie” and scores of other film scores, did the fine electronic-flavored score for the new series “Time Bandits.” But while the opening credits are passable, in a sort of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the … Continue reading →

It’s worth noting, right up top, that the many actors who turn up in “Deadpool & Wolverine” let us know — in big moments and small ones — that they’re better than this movie, this genre and this universe. And … Continue reading →

Four brassy broads roll up their sleeves and do the heavy lifting in “The Fabulous Four,” an old friends reunite for a Key West wedding comedy from the director of “How to Make An American Quilt.” Their efforts are largely … Continue reading →

Count me among the legion of skeptics who guffawed at the idea of Kiwi cut-ups Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi — with Brit “Inbetweeners” writer Iain Morris — making a TV series based on Terry Gilliam’s post-Python classic film “Time … Continue reading →

The latest incarnation of “Doctor Jekyll” isn’t scary enough or campy/weird enough to come off. The former is no great surprise, as the Robert Louis Stevenson novella has been filmed to death and is too overfamiliar to offer much in … Continue reading →