Tag Archives: Reviews

Movie Review: Karen Gillan’s a lost soul ready to join the “Late Bloomers”

“Jumanji” and Marvel veteran Karen Gillan finally finds a star vehicle in sync with her brittle, awkwardly funny persona with “Late Bloomers,” a sentimental comedy about an aimless, guilt-stricken young woman who finally grows up when she takes on the … Continue reading

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Movie Review: A Child’s turn as Robinson Crusoe in “Kensuke’s Kingdom”

“Kensuke’s Kingdom” is a simply but attractively animated film based on a Michael Morpurgo novel. The novel, in turn, is based on the classic tale “Robinson Crusoe,” here modernized to place a shipwrecked boy and his dog in tropical paradise, … Continue reading

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Classic Film Review: Damon, Norton, Famke, Turturro and Landau deal the cards — “Rounders” (1998)

The knock on “Rounders” (1998) was always that it was, to quote a review or two at the time of its release, “lazy.” It’s a genre pic, gamblers’ ups and downs as one (Matt Damon) tries to focus on law … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Deformed, then “Cured,” but is he “A Different Man?”

An artist, the old saying goes, is “someone who pounds the same nail, over and over again.” So it’s not a shock that “Chained for Life” writer-director Aaron Schimberg returns to the subject of beauty, disfigurement and the ways society … Continue reading

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Classic Film Review: Gable, Gardner and Grace switch partners on Safari — “Mogambo” (1953)

Every classic film fan has her or his go-to stars, just as film fans did back when the movies were young, or stepping into middle age. I’ll watch most anything with Bogart and/or Bacall, William Powell, Gary Cooper, Joel McRea, … Continue reading

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Netflixable? Hapless Swede gets in “Trouble” with Criminals, Convicts and Cops in this Comic Thriller

A good comic thriller knows how to frustrate the viewer in all the best ways — creating suspense through a collection of close shaves, near misses and moments when the heroine or hero “almost” gets away. A bad comic thriller … Continue reading

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Netflixable? Navajo hoops team Overcomes Obstacles on and off the Court — “Rez Ball”

“Rez Ball” is a feel-good sports dramedy tailor-made for teens and tweens. It may be groaningly predictable in its adherence to formula, as most any adult sports film/basketball drama viewer knows what’s coming and when, and can even be bark … Continue reading

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Movie Review: Plus-size teen designer finds her tribe and her mission, bringing back the “Empire Waist”

“Empire Waist” is a laugh-out-loud teen comedy about a girl’s emotionally fraught journey from making herself “invisible” to accepting who she is and embracing attention from her peers. Claire Ayoub’s debut feature is witty but utterly predictable, uplifting in all … Continue reading

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