Tag Archives: film

Movie Review: Combat at Its most Cliched — “Valiant One”

Posted on January 31, 2025 by Roger Moore

The bar was raised on combat films decades ago. Corny, tactically sloppy flag-wavers no longer cut the mustard. And thanks to the most documentary filmed in history — Iraq and Afghanistan — it’s not just the feature films that made … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Liam and Colm, Ciarán and Kerry “In the Land of Saints and Sinners”

Posted on January 30, 2025 by Roger Moore

“In the Land of Saints and Sinners” is an embarrassment of riches, a forlorn thriller cast with many of the greatest Irish character actors of their generation and featuring the cream of the next generation of Irish leading ladies. Of … Continue reading →

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Documentary Review — “Liza: A Truly Terrific, Absolutely True Story” lets a Darling Diva Have Her Say

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Roger Moore

The public has always cut Liza Minnelli a lot of slack. Her stunning talent, trouper’s work ethic and relentlessly upbeat showwomanship pretty much demanded it. And adorable “openness” about her life, her many loves, trials, failings and burdens can seem … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: “The Damned” Fishermen face Consequences for their Cruelest Mistake

Posted on January 24, 2025 by Roger Moore

“The Damned” is a thriller built on one of the oldest formulas in fiction. First, there are many, as Dame Agatha taught us, “And Then There were None.” Ah, but what a setting this 19th century fable has — the … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: House isn’t a home when it’s haunted by a ghostly “Presence”

Posted on January 24, 2025 by Roger Moore

It’s just a haunted house story, just a movie with objects that move and things that go bump in the night. Well, mostly in broad daylight. “Presence” is a “A Ghost Story” filmed like a “Paranormal Activity” installment. And it’s … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Bisset still has her shimmer in “Loren & Rose”

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Roger Moore

A screen legend gives better than a lackluster indie script deserves in “Loren & Rose,” a movie about a movie-maker befriending a once-famous actress he needs to get his new movie made. Maybe there’s a bit of art-imitates-film-life in this … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Teacher helps a Troubled Student “Brave the Dark” of his Past

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Roger Moore

“Brave the Dark” is a earnest do-good/feel-good story of the “One Great Teacher Makes a Difference” genre. Released by Angel Studios, which brought us “Bonhoeffer,” “Sound of Freedom” and “Homestead,” where “earnest” is their brand, it’s a low-stakes, dramatically flat … Continue reading →

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Documentary Review: An Italian who inspired Tarantino, “Piero Vivarelli: Life as a B-Movie”

Posted on January 21, 2025 by Roger Moore

Piero Vivarelli was an Italian B-movie filmmaker, a “genre” director who dabbled in several genres, most famous (at home) for his musicarello pop and rock movies of the 60s. If you’ve never heard of Rita Pavone, Tony Renis, Mina and … Continue reading →

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Netflixable? Jamie and Cameron skylark through “Back in Action”

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Roger Moore

An absurd script is navigated with brio and professionalism in the “Back in Action” comedy. Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz summon up their old school cool and comical chemistry (“Annie”), Glenn Close trots out an accent and the quips and … Continue reading →

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Classic Film Review: James Joyce by John Huston, “The Dead”(1987)

Posted on January 19, 2025 by Roger Moore

You don’t have to get old to truly appreciate John Huston’s elegiac ode to Belle Epoque Ireland and his farewell to the cinema. Wintry, wistful, funereal and poetic, James Joyce’s “The Dead” becomes a simple, short and beautiful postcard from … Continue reading →

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