Tag Archives: books

Movie Review: Karen Gillan’s a lost soul ready to join the “Late Bloomers”

Posted on November 7, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Jumanji” and Marvel veteran Karen Gillan finally finds a star vehicle in sync with her brittle, awkwardly funny persona with “Late Bloomers,” a sentimental comedy about an aimless, guilt-stricken young woman who finally grows up when she takes on the … Continue reading →

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Netflixable? Troubled Swedish Family has to “Let Go” to break-up

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Roger Moore

Swedish actress, screenwriter and director Josephine Bornebusch conjures up a downbeat star vehicle for herself with “Let Go,” about a dysfunctional family’s trip to support their sixteen year-old in a pole-dancing competition. Sweden, right? There’s a catatonic grandfather to visit, … Continue reading →

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Netflixable? A French “Jumanji” with time-travel and werewolves — “Family Pack”

Posted on October 26, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Family Pack” is a slick, silly, hot-mess of a fantasy comedy, a French “Jumanji” based on a French board game. A French family — including aged, forgetful Grandpa (the great Jean Reno) — tempts fate by playing an old, carved … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: A Child’s turn as Robinson Crusoe in “Kensuke’s Kingdom”

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Kensuke’s Kingdom” is a simply but attractively animated film based on a Michael Morpurgo novel. The novel, in turn, is based on the classic tale “Robinson Crusoe,” here modernized to place a shipwrecked boy and his dog in tropical paradise, … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Glenn Close stars in a “Beach Read” that might cure insomnia — “The Summer Book”

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Roger Moore

“The Summer Book” is a picturesque period piece based on a novel Tove Jannson wrote, inspired by her own experiences living on an island in the Gulf of Finland. It aims for “lyrical” and “meditative” as it tells the story … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: A mourning comedy becomes Thai travelogue? There’s a “Cautionary Tale

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Roger Moore

In the cinema, there are dramedies and tragi-comedies, and whatever the heck the indie “Cautionary Tale” turns out to be. It begins as a funny dark comedy about two men bickering over the ashes of their loved ones. Neil (Ted … Continue reading →

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Classic Film Review: “Restored” for re-release, “Breakfast of Champions” (1999) is still malnourished

Posted on October 6, 2024 by Roger Moore

A lot of myth and movie lore are attached to the cinema’s epic flops. The long-gestating, all-star-cast 1999 film of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “Breakfast of Champions” carries its share of such baggage. No, it didn’t end adapting screenwriter and director … Continue reading →

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