Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

Sept. 9, a piece “inspired by true events” from Czech history hits screens. Helluva cast. That Michael Caine just keeps going. No retirement for him. Treasure him while you can.

Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” is dressed up as a modern day graffiti artist in the income-inequality London of today in “Twist,” a contemporary take on the tale which — our narrator/hero promises — “won’t ‘ave no singin’” or dancing. And … Continue reading →

A simple coming-of-age tale built on the novelty that this story is about a teenage Black fly girl in Brooklyn, 1994’s “Alma’s Rainbow” earns a 4K restoration and re-release Writer-director Ayoka Chenzira launched her career with this debut feature. Almost … Continue reading →

“Slight” can be a great virtue in an intimate indie film, especially when it’s paired with “twee.” That’s the potential we’re looking for when we sit down to “Shalom Taiwan,” an Argentinian comedy/travelogue about a Buenos Aires rabbi who goes … Continue reading →

A little shouting at the screen when watching a movie can be a good thing — liberating, underscoring hw involved you’ve gotten in the story. And then there’s the shouting one must simply must do at “Pipa,” retitled “Recurrence” for … Continue reading →

There’s no sense sugar-coating this or beating around the bush. The Korean in-flight thriller “Emergency Declaration” laughably steals a lot of over-the-top plot points from “Airplane!” and the trouble-mid-flight thriller that “Airplane!” set out to spoof, 1957’s “Zero Hour!” There … Continue reading →

It’s ever-so-hard to type when one is clutching one’s pearls over the shock, the pervy NERVE of it all! A 38 year-old American novelist living in London has an affair with a 15-16 year-old mini-skirted Mod, and marries her rather … Continue reading →

One gimmick is about all your average 79 minute horror movie can manage, but at least that one trick is kind of promising in “Glorious.” Fresh-off-a-breakup Wes (Ryan Kwanten) polishes off a long drive, a purge and an alcoholic binge … Continue reading →

Racy for its day, and still seriously ribald today, this 1976 classic from Brazil has been restored and re issued by Film Movement. Here’s my review of this comical “troubled marriage” farce. Person County, N.C. and its library system win … Continue reading →

No they’re not showing us much. Yet. One year out from release, the hype continues apace.