Tag Archives: movies

Classic Film Review: Steinbeck played by MGM Stars in Brownface — “Tortilla Flat”(1942)

The lightest of heart and most lightly regarded classic John Steinbeck adaptation, “Tortilla Flat” (1942) came by its “underrated comedy” reputation with the passing years. It’s an ethnic farce by a writer with an eye, ear and empathy for the … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Louis Mandylor commits another War (Movie) Atrocity — “Prisoner of War”

The director and star of the most laughably under-researched WWII action pic in ages strikes again with “Prisoner of War,” a Scott Adkins martial arts star vehicle that puts a kickboxing RAF pilot on the Bataan Peninsula of the Philippines … Continue reading

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Movie Review: A Twee Brit Romance with a Bittersweet Taste, “The Ballad of Wallis Island”

Ever so slight and so very, very British, “The Ballad of Wallis Island” passes the time like reading P.G. Wodehouse with a cup of Earl Grey on a rainy autumn afternoon. A couple of supporting players from British TV cooked … Continue reading

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Documentary Review: The “Mr. Scorsese” Saga in Five Parts

Film buffs idolize him. Film students long to become him. His fellow filmmakers emulate him. Actors long to work with him. And film journalists relish the chance to bask in his presence and find something to ask or say to … Continue reading

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Documentary Review — Home Movies as Comedy Couples Counseling, “Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost”

They were the hottest comic “double act” of their day. Stiller & Meara were never as hip as Nichols and May, but reliably funny, TV (“family audience”) friendly and just edgy enough to give the live New York studio audiences … Continue reading

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Movie Review: “The Astronaut” Came Home with More than She Bargained For

The new sci-fi thriller “The Astronaut” is a somewhat ungainly marriage of “Alien” and “E.T.” It begins with mystery and danger and the best of intentions. But the longer the marriage goes on, the worse things get. Kate Mara has … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Have and Have-Not are flipped by a Guardian Angel with “Good Fortune” at his disposal

Keanu Reeves brings an offhand charm to his guardian angel turn in “Good Fortune,” Aziz Ansari’s season-neutral “A Christmas Carol” parable about America in general and LA in particular as a land of have-a-lots and have-nots. Whatever inspiration the comic … Continue reading

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Movie Review: A Haunted Subway Stop lures the Suicidal to Barcelona — “Last Stop: Rocafort St.”

A great location is wasted and a true piece of Barcelona lore is exploited and clumsily “explained” in “Last Stop: Rocafort St.,” a supernatural thriller from director and co-writer Luis Prieto. There really is a subway stop where suicides are … Continue reading

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Classic Film Review: Quintessential Keaton, Parenting with a Feminist Message — “Baby Boom” (1987)

The death of Diane Keaton over the weekend had a lot of us poking around streaming services, hunting for something to remind us of what made the Oscar winner an icon of her era. We settled into “Baby Boom” in … Continue reading

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Movie Review: A Life Shaped by Burns, the Bible, Baseball and Jack Buck — “Soul on Fire”

“Soul on Fire” is a touching faith-based bio-pic that pushes all the right emotional buttons. It rarely misses a beat and never misses a button. It’s about a child burned nearly to a crisp who survives through perseverance and a … Continue reading

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