Category Archives: Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news

We all have our beefs with Bill Maher. Check out his craven collapse into cowardliness when Julian Assange threatened him on live TV right before the 2016 election. But he’s not wrong on this “When I was a child…outgrow comic … Continue reading →

All modern vampire tales are variations on an “addiction” allegory. The “victim” needs her or his “fix.” Even in the “Twilight” movies, that was what played out — Kristen Stewart was addicted to Robert Pattinson’s pale (literal) sparkle. “Painkillers” is … Continue reading →

Sorry for the breathless hype headline. But here you are, so now that I’ve got your attention. Fox is setting up free showings of this Feb. blockbuster. Or what they hope will be a blockbuster. The screenings for this Valentine’s … Continue reading →

It’s not the tried and true framework of romantic comedies that so many get wrong when they’re trying to film one. It’s the vital pieces of that frame — the characters, and who they hire to play them — and … Continue reading →

Maisie Williams is the spark and spunk, the light and the dark of “Then Came You,” a montage-happy “terminal teenager” romance with enough twists and turns, laughs and near-tears to make it work. Williams, of “Game of Thrones,” has to … Continue reading →

My hat always comes off in the presence of filmmakers daring enough to take on a period piece with their indie film. They’re invariably passion projects with a capital “P.” Because you’re not cranking out some attention-grabbing/career-starting horror-zombie or romantic … Continue reading →

There’s a lot of salesmanship that sits, obvious to the naked eye, in “Serenity.” Here’s how “Serenity” was sold to overseas investors, and then to nascent studio Aviron, and how they in turn are selling it to us. Matthew McConaughey … Continue reading →

There’s romance in the sight of a sailboat, never moreso than when you see one is the last place you’d expect — the desert Southwest. That arresting, poetic image has turned up in a few movies over the years — … Continue reading →

No release date on this epic, which features a few authentic Good Ol’boys (Barry Corbin) mixed in with the likes of John Travolta, a suprisingly down home Kevin Dunn, Shania Twain (Southern Canada? Maybe.) and Michael Madsen. Madsen is past-his-prime … Continue reading →

Yes, he was a real figure, the great composer, working in the shadows of Hollywood as others got the credit and students went on to become JOHN WILLIAMS and JERRY GOLDSMITH and HENRY MANCINI. Yeah. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco really lived. He … Continue reading →