Category Archives: Reviews

For 15 or so glorious minutes, Peter Dinklage takes over and hilariously dominates “Pixels,” an Adam Sandler comedy saddled with the wrong star. For four or five minutes, here and there, Josh Gad dials up the wacky. And “Pixels,” a comedy … Continue reading →

“Just stay calm,” the sheriff and his deputy tell the townspeople. And they do. They watched all the animals in town flee. They’ve noticed the moving shadows and noted the footprints. “Cloven. Hooves.” Maybe they noticed their story’s color palette … Continue reading →

The jaunty Ramsey Lewis jazz instrumental “The In-Crowd” underscores “Irrational Man,” Woody Allen’s latest film. It’s a gratingly dischordant pairing, Allen’s mostly-serious riff on Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment,” set up as some sort of daft existential comedy. And it’s … Continue reading →

He’s being cagey, this old man introducing himself to the woman he’s been following. “I am, by disposition, a hobbyist,” he says, mysteriously. This, after he’s told her the scent she’s wearing and other details about herself she wouldn’t expect … Continue reading →

Dressed to impress, stereotypically sassy and fresh out of jail, Sin-Dee is a transgender hooker on a mission. She’s on the hunt for her feckless boyfriend/pimp. And woe be unto any woman, man, or man dressed as a woman who … Continue reading →

“Boulevard,” Robin Williams’ final film, is a sturdy, sad-faced melodrama about a repressed man finally accepting his sexuality at 60. Well-intentioned, but predictable and instantly dated, it’s worth watching for his performance opposite Kathy Baker. They play a married couple, … Continue reading →

The rise, fall and mainstreaming of hip hop fashion is explored in Sacha Jenkins’ “Fresh Dressed,” a documentary that visits an under explored corner of rap music history. Jenkins’ film details the sartorial statement that arrived, almost simultaneously, when hip … Continue reading →

“La petite mort,” the French call it — “the little death.” What a colorful and delicate way to describe an orgasm. But “delicate” isn’t the first word that leaps to mind with the Australian sex comedy that takes its name … Continue reading →

Heist pictures don’t come much dumber than “7 Minutes,” an indie thriller about three desperate young guys who attempt their first armed robbery. That stupidity, evident in both the under-planned caper and its resolution, could have been an asset to … Continue reading →

You’ve got to appreciate good trash talk to get into “Balls Out,” a college intramural sports comedy that was never going to amount to much. “I’m gonna rip out your colon and use it as a spooky eye-patch!” The classmate-coach’s … Continue reading →