Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

“Dolemite is My Name” may be an affectionate homage to Rudy Ray Moore, profane “party record” stand-up comic of legend, progenitor of hip hop and forgotten pathfinder of the indie cinema. For the film’s star, Eddie Murphy, it’s a “mutha-f—–g” … Continue reading →

I love that Netflix is giving this a limited theatrical release, and dangling the carrot of awards season consideration to an Eddie Murphy comedy, a movie about a 1970s comic who invented a character and became a phenomenon.  The father … Continue reading →

Perhaps this song, used in a much-discussed film of the fall…   Inspired the editors of this trailer to include a different Cream song, and perhaps it, too, will end up in this January mov… That means we should be … Continue reading →

Comic book heroes may possess an immutable timelessness, their virtues more or less the same through the decades. But every generation has its own Joker — camp or callous, twisted or fey. This is the “Joker” America deserves, here and … Continue reading →

For a movie that won big at the Venice Film Festival, and allegedly has Oscar buzz, a film expected to snatch the October movie opening record at the box office, “Joker” has awfully mixed early reviews. It looks bleak as … Continue reading →

A good time travel movie doesn’t have to cost a lot. The Spanish “Time Crimes” the American indie jewel “Primer” prove that. All it needs in order to succeed are engaging characters, a ticking-clock plot and a thought exercise that … Continue reading →

Sometime between “Leprechaun” and “Leprechaun 2” it became fashionable, or a smart career move, even, to concoct a horror film that people would label “so bad it’s good.” It never made much sense, and there’s always been junk cinema that … Continue reading →

A January release from newish distributor STX, a film that takes Ritchie back to what he does best. “Rocknrolla,” “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Snatch.” The horrors of “Aladdin” are forgiven? Matthew McConaughey, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Grant, Colin Farell, … Continue reading →

I had hoped that the cringe-worthy comedy that took its place as a TV genre would confine itself to the short doses-long format of the sitcom. But no. There’s a bit of cringing involved in most every film that alumni … Continue reading →

“The Joker and I? Broke up.” And so Warners launches the breakout character from “Suicide Squad,” the one bit of casting that paid off, into a spinoff Margot Robbie star vehicle. “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One … Continue reading →