Tag Archives: news

Documentary Review: A Young Woman “Prime Minister” steers New Zealand Through its Darkest Hours

Posted on June 12, 2025 by Roger Moore

There’s cold comfort for American and international audiences taking in “Prime Minister,” a new documentary about New Zealand’s first female prime minister, the woman who led the country through a horrific mass shooting hate crime, a volcanic erruption, COVID and … Continue reading →

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Documentary Review: Guitars, Reverb and a History of “Sound of the Surf”

Posted on June 9, 2025 by Roger Moore

Here’s a fun-fun-fun little documentary about the history of surf music, a movie that remembers the surfing “fad” and enduring appeal of surf culture and the “dripping damp sound” of Fender (usually) guitars pumped through amps that had to grow … Continue reading →

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Documentary Review: A Legend Gets his Due as “Swamp Dogg Gets his Pool Painted”

Posted on May 21, 2025 by Roger Moore

Documentary filmmakers are always looking for a subject that’s colorful and obscure enough to justify the years it sometimes takes to make a non-fiction film about it or them. The guys who made “Swamp Dogg Gets his Pool Painted” had … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: “Hurry Up Tomorrow” because this Weeknd outing can’t end soon enough

Posted on May 15, 2025 by Roger Moore

In “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” the Grammy Award winning pop star The Weeknd takes another stab at screen stardom, playing a troubled and lonely version of himself who finds out — the hard way — how “personal” some of his fans … Continue reading →

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Netflixable? Vince Vaughn invites Staten Island to eat with their “Nonnas”

Posted on May 13, 2025 by Roger Moore

“Nonnas” is a heaping helping of cinematic Italian-American comfort food, a family rom-com where the romance is in the food and the comedy is in the scrappy little old ladies who prepare it. Director Stephen Chbosky (“The Perks of Being … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: It’s game-over if you can’t make it “Until Dawn”

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Roger Moore

You could probably tell in a couple of minutes that this weekend’s cinematic sacrificial lamb to the horror gods is based on a video game without being reminded that “Until Dawn” was born on Playstation in the opening credits. Stock … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: De Niro vs. De Niro in Levinson’s “The Alto Knights”

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Roger Moore

For his latest feat, Oscar winning screen legend Robert De Niro plays two roles, as rival Mafia leaders Frank Costello and Vito Genovese at the mob’s late 1950s peak. Another word for “feat” might be “stunt” or “gimmick” in the … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Can “The Ugly Stepsister” make that Glass Slipper fit?

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Roger Moore

Yes, let’s have a “Cinderella” without the spin. Pound home the “princess” as beauty bias messaging with body horror driven by body dysphoria. And make it splatter film bloody, sexually explicit and occasionally funny — laughs with a grimace of … Continue reading →

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Netflixable? Italian losers trap a winner via “The Love Scam”

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Roger Moore

“The Love Scam (Mica è colpa mia)” is a genial Italian caper comedy that barely manages “genial” and never really capers. There’s a lack of ambition, an Italian shrug of indifference, that slacks through every element — script, direction and … Continue reading →

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Oscar Nominations — “Emilia Perez,” “Wicked” and “Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Dune 2” and Five Other Films compete for Best Picture

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Roger Moore

Netflix’s much-hyped “Emilia Perez” musical led the way with 13 nominations when the much-delayed contenders for the 97th Academy Awards were announced this morning. “The Brutalist” and “Wicked” scored ten nominations each. A total of 10 films are up for … Continue reading →

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