Tag Archives: Reviews

Movie Review: Sex Worker “Anora” marries her “Whale”

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Roger Moore

Full disclosure, I ducked into “Anora” a couple of times, waiting for other movies to start, before finally setting aside the time to watch Sean Baker’s latest, start to finish. The tale of an American sex worker of Eastern European … Continue reading →

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

Posted on November 7, 2024 by Roger Moore

“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”

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Roger Moore

“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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BOX OFFICE: “Smile 2” underwhelms with $23, “Wild Robot” clears $100

Posted on October 19, 2024 by Roger Moore

“Smile 2” arrives in theaters to excellent reviews, a little name recognition in its cast and a proven “brand” whose previous installment opened at $22 million, but soared onward and upward and cleared $105 million in North America alone. Paramount … Continue reading →

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

Posted on October 12, 2024 by Roger Moore

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?”

Posted on October 11, 2024 by Roger Moore

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)

Posted on October 8, 2024 by Roger Moore

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

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Roger Moore

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”

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Roger Moore

“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”

Posted on September 25, 2024 by Roger Moore

“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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