Tag Archives: film

Movie Review: French couple constrained by the limits of “Just the Two of Us”

Posted on December 23, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Just the Two of Us” is a textbook domestic abuse melodrama, a French film with just enough mystery about it to make us wonder if it will transform into a thriller. Based on a novel by Éric Reinhardt, Valérie Donzelli’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: French couple constrained by the limits of “Just the Two of Us”

Movie Review: Jackie Chan, in the silly present, in the fantastical past “A Legend”

Posted on December 22, 2024 by Roger Moore

Let the record reflect that Jackie Chan is more limber, nimble and in better faux fighting trim at 70 than you are at 60, 35 or 20, “Boomer,” “Xer,” Millennial or what have you. Hong Kong’s king of martial arts … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: Jackie Chan, in the silly present, in the fantastical past “A Legend”

Classic Film Review: Chaplin’s ode to a Dying Corner of Comedy — “Limelight”

Posted on December 17, 2024 by Roger Moore

Memory is a merciful thing when it comes movies. We remember the grand moments in films, the signature bits, and much of what’s less moving, entertaining or important just drifts away. Charlie Chaplin had become Charles Chaplin long before “Limelight,” … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Classic Film Review: Chaplin’s ode to a Dying Corner of Comedy — “Limelight”

Movie Review: When the End Comes, Survivalists rally around “Homestead”

Posted on December 16, 2024 by Roger Moore

By turns paranoid and pollyanna-ish, “Homestead” is a conservative Christian survivalist wish fulfillment fantasy about living through “The End.” The studio that brought us the controversial “Sound of Freedom” serves up an almost bipolar picture packed with MAGA virtue signaling … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: When the End Comes, Survivalists rally around “Homestead”

Classic Film Review: An anti-war parable that became a landmark of Japanese cinema — “Ugetsu” (1953)

Posted on December 12, 2024 by Roger Moore

“The value of people and objects truly depends on their setting,” the potter Genjurô tells a noblewoman and patron at one point in the classic film “Ugetsu,” a Medieval fantasy based on the “Rain-Moon Tales” of 18th century writer Ueda … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Classic Film Review: An anti-war parable that became a landmark of Japanese cinema — “Ugetsu” (1953)

Movie Review: Luca Guadagnino and Daniel Craig bring Burroughs’ “Queer” to the screen

Posted on December 10, 2024 by Roger Moore

There have been worthy big screen interpretations of the Beat Generation icon William S. Burroughs over the years. Kieffer Sutherland played him in “Beat.” Peter Weller took on Burroughs’ alter ego (and pen name) “Bill Lee” in David Cronenberg’s celebrated … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: Luca Guadagnino and Daniel Craig bring Burroughs’ “Queer” to the screen

Movie Review: Baldwin, Terrence Howard and Esai Morales are trapped in the quagmire of “Crescent City”

Posted on December 10, 2024 by Roger Moore

A suspect is getting grilled by three cops, played by movie stars. At one point, the biggest star of them all, Alec Baldwin, blurts out “Need I remind you you’re under OATH?” No, the director didn’t shout “Cut!” No, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: Baldwin, Terrence Howard and Esai Morales are trapped in the quagmire of “Crescent City”

Classic Film Review: John Ford takes the rep company, and no “stars,” to Monument Valley for “Wagon Master” (1950)

Posted on December 9, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Wagon Master” was perhaps the truest test of the concept of “star director” of John Ford’s career. The iconic Irishman who came to America and made Westerns was finishing up his “cavalry trilogy (“Fort Apache,” “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Classic Film Review: John Ford takes the rep company, and no “stars,” to Monument Valley for “Wagon Master” (1950)

Movie Review: “Y2K,” back when the end was nigh

Posted on December 7, 2024 by Roger Moore

Why “Y2K?” Why now? Seriously, WTF, Gen Y and Kyle Mooney?  Films? LOLs? Not on your life, A24 Films. The ex-“SNL” player Mooney co-wrote, directed and co-stars in “Y2K,” a “horny teenager” comedy that aims to be a sort of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: “Y2K,” back when the end was nigh

Movie Review: A Boxer readies Body and Soul for the “Day of the Fight”

Posted on December 4, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Day of the Fight” is a sentimental and soulful “fight picture,” a movie that follows a former champ through every bit of personal business he feels he has to take care of before his “comeback” that night. The actor-turned-director Jack … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: A Boxer readies Body and Soul for the “Day of the Fight”