Tag Archives: movies

BOX OFFICE: “Dog Man” fetches $36, “Companion” pays off, “Valiant One” barely registers

“Dog Man,” the new animated comedy from Dav Piley’s “Captain Underpants” kids’ novel universe, is proving to be a very good dog indeed, opening by selling some $13 million more worth of (higher priced tickets) than “Underpants” did eight years … Continue reading

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Movie Review: It’s a wedding, and Reese, Celia, Meredith, Geraldine and Will say “You’re Cordially Invited,” Y’all

“Commitment” is a cornerstone of the marriage contract. And it’s damned important in a romantic comedy about marriages as well. Say this for the cast of writer-director Nicholas Stoller’s “You’re Cordially Invited.” These kids — and Will Ferrell and Reese … Continue reading

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

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”

“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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Classic Film Review: Sam Fuller’s Red Scare Noir, “Pickup on South Street” (1953)

The movies used to sentimentalize mobsters, especially during “the Wars” — WWII and the Cold one that followed. They might be cutthroats, thieves, lowlife grifters and rummies. But when it came to fascists and commies, flesh and blood threats to … Continue reading

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

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: K-Stew and Steven Yeun as the AI future of “humanity” and romance — “Love Me”

“Love Me” is an experiment in sci-fi romance that goes wrong. The pitch? Billions of years after the end of humanity, a smart buoy in the icy wasteland of Earth’s seas thaws out and makes contact with “The Messenger,” a … Continue reading

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Movie Review: This time, Dreyfuss is the Old Salt giving advice to those heading “Into the Deep”

“Into the Deep?” Well, “Jaws” it’s not. Entirely too shallow for “The Deep,” too. But Richard Dreyfuss is in it, the “Jaws” alumnus who’s lived to play the sage of the sea role in this B-almost-C picture about gun smugglers, … Continue reading

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

“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”

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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