Tag Archives: film

Movie Review: Eastwood’s made a creaky court case built around “Juror #2”

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Roger Moore

Maybe the answer to “Why did Warner Brothers barely release Clint Eastwood’s ‘final film?” was that it’s just not very good. “Juror # 2” is competently cast, acted, shot and put together. But the script is melodramatic to the point … Continue reading →

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Classic Film Review: A Little Romance, a Touch of Class, and Class Warfare — “The Philadelphia Story” (1940)

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Roger Moore

It begins with a screwball tease — a couple, wordlessly breaking up, climaxing with the husband maniacally grabbing the wife by the forehead and shoving her back through the door and onto the floor. But even though the wife is … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Beckinsale’s a CIA agent blackmailed into killing her way to “Canary Black”

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Roger Moore

The main draw of a genre film is the promise of cinematic comfort food. A faintly Byzantine plot, some solid action beats delivered by genre veterans in front of and behind the camera and a few pithy turns of phrase … Continue reading →

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Classic Film Review: Kinski and Herzog make each other film immortals — “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” (1972)

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Roger Moore

A legend from history was speculated upon and two legends were made when Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski shot their breakout film, “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” in the jungles of South America with a stolen camera. This low-budget 90-minute … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: “Heretic,” or “Hugh Grant’s Theology Lesson”

Posted on November 8, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Heretic” is a simple but smart thriller about faith, a horror movie of ideas that is as sinister as it is cerebral. The writers of “A Quiet Place” and writer-directors of “65” keep our focus on two young women, Mormon … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Pakistan’s animated Best International Feature submission, “The Glassworker”

Posted on November 6, 2024 by Roger Moore

“The Glassworker” is a steampunk fantasy romance in the anime style. Its novelty is that it’s the first Pakistani animated film of this type, and is Pakistan’s submission to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as a contender … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Buster Keaton in a “Minions” comedy by Terry Gilliam? “Hundreds of Beavers”

Posted on November 6, 2024 by Roger Moore

We tend to think of slapstick comedy gag writing as a lost art. It didn’t die along with Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, but its most acclaimed practioners these days are in animation, heirs to the Chuck Jones/Looney Tunes tradition. … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: A “Gump” sized Gimmick in Search of a Movie — “Here”

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Here” is such an empty cinematic experience that it summons up everything you ever hated about a Robert Zemeckis movie and the Zemeckis “style.” An Oscar winner with enduring classics scattered across his resume — “Cast Away,” “Back to the … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Liam in Winter — “Absolution”

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Roger Moore

Any grace notes 70something Liam Neeson brings to his aging and about to become infirm man of action in “Absolution” are pretty much overwhelmed by cliches, loose ends and overreaches in a sloppily pieced-together screenplay. Character motivation and the hasty … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Ralph Fiennes tries to Herd Back-Stabbing Archbishops through a Papal “Conclave”

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Roger Moore

A pope dies and over 100 of his archbishops gather to politic, poor-mouth, backbite and backstab their way towards electing another in “Conclave,” a deliciously dark, well-acted and beautifully-filmed inside-Vatican-intrigues thriller. Director Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”), … Continue reading →

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