Tag Archives: review

Classic Film Review: Serious and Seldom Seen Sellers — “The Blockhouse” (1973)

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Roger Moore

Filmed on the whim of a liquor empire heir, a “true story” whose German Army WWII victims were changed to French and citizens of other occupied countries, “The Blockhouse” is one of the strangest titles in the later, quixotic career … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Classic Film Review: Serious and Seldom Seen Sellers — “The Blockhouse” (1973)

Netflixable? Boy Band Pretty or “Faceless (Shoutai)” he’s too cute to be a mass murderer!

Posted on February 10, 2025 by Roger Moore

“Faceless” is “I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang” or just “The Fugitive” for Japan’s current “Seijin no Hi” generation. The conceit is so clever that the clock is probably already ticking on a Hollywood version of this. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Netflixable? Boy Band Pretty or “Faceless (Shoutai)” he’s too cute to be a mass murderer!

Netflixable? Korean expats figure out “Bogota” is the “City of the Lost”

Posted on February 5, 2025 by Roger Moore

“Bogota: City of the Lost” is an underworld “how criminals crime” procedural with an exotic setting and fish-out-of-water characters but no pace or narrative drive worthy of its novelty. A tale that is voice-over-narrated to death by our smuggler-on-the-rise, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Netflixable? Korean expats figure out “Bogota” is the “City of the Lost”

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

Posted on January 25, 2025 by Roger Moore

“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 →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: This time, Dreyfuss is the Old Salt giving advice to those heading “Into the Deep”

Movie Review: Teacher helps a Troubled Student “Brave the Dark” of his Past

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Roger Moore

“Brave the Dark” is a earnest do-good/feel-good story of the “One Great Teacher Makes a Difference” genre. Released by Angel Studios, which brought us “Bonhoeffer,” “Sound of Freedom” and “Homestead,” where “earnest” is their brand, it’s a low-stakes, dramatically flat … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: Teacher helps a Troubled Student “Brave the Dark” of his Past

Classic Film Review: Accept no Substititute for this Suspsense Masterpiece — “The Wages of Fear” (1953)

Posted on January 13, 2025 by Roger Moore

Stanley Kubrick was among the most famous filmmakers to assert that if you can’t tell what’s happening in a film — the emotions and motivations of the characters and the point of it all — with the sound turned off, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Classic Film Review: Accept no Substititute for this Suspsense Masterpiece — “The Wages of Fear” (1953)

Movie Review: Millennials try to buy-in or opt-out of the “American Meltdown”

Posted on January 6, 2025 by Roger Moore

“American Meltdown” is a comic buddy picture that taps into the deep well of Millennial angst and grievance about a “system” that is finally so broken it doesn’t work for them. At all. Like a lot of fiction and op … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Movie Review: Millennials try to buy-in or opt-out of the “American Meltdown”

Netflixable? Jolie as Callas, “Maria,” a Diva at Death’s Door

Posted on December 13, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Maria” is an operatic bio-pic in every sense of the word. In director Pablo Larraín’s vision of “La Callas,” the diva’s diva Maria Callas, there is tragedy off-stage but serenity in the spotlight, an artist wholly prepared and fully immersed … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Netflixable? Jolie as Callas, “Maria,” a Diva at Death’s Door

Netflixable? Keira and Ben Whishaw try to survive London’s “Wick World” of “Black Doves”

Posted on December 12, 2024 by Roger Moore

The one hard and fast rule of streaming action series these days is that they have to be page-turners. The plot has to not just lure us in, but repeatedly add wrinkles to drag the viewer into that next episode. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Classic Film Review: Looking for Lean Laughs from “Blithe Spirit” (1945)

Posted on November 26, 2024 by Roger Moore

The shifting sands of editor-turned-director David Lean‘s career took him through early adaptations of Noël Coward scripts, included some definitive adaptations of Charles Dickens and eventually settled on the sweeping epics which is he best known for today — “Bridge … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Classic Film Review: Looking for Lean Laughs from “Blithe Spirit” (1945)