Author Archives
Josh Lasser is a freelance entertainment reporter/critic. His work has appeared in print, online, and perhaps one day in book form.
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Movie Review: “Teen Spirit”
There is something deeply unsettling about writer-director Max Minghella’s “Teen Spirit.” The film, which stars Elle Fanning, is Minghella’s first feature as a director and while it shows flashes of brilliance, they are not carried through. What starts as a fascinating… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “The Chaperone” (2019)
Once upon a time, there was a famous actress named Louise Brooks. This is true. When she wet to New York to study dancing, she was accompanied by a chaperone. This too, seemingly, is true. However, the new film written… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Shazam!”
There is a point in “Shazam!” when one of Batman’s batarangs is dropped to floor, harmlessly pinging out of site. This can be seen as a metaphor at this moment for the entirety of the DCEU – oh sure, the… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Dragged Across Concrete”
At 158 minutes, writer-director S. Craig Zahler’s latest film, “Dragged Across Concrete,” is not exactly short. Instead—and happily—it is exactly how long it needs to be. Zahler has created a movie which is intricate and detailed, where nothing lags, where… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Us” (2019)
In just a few weeks, the Jordan Peele produced update to “The Twilight Zone” is going to launch. It is impossible to know that fact and not look at Peele’s newest film, “Us,” and see it as him doing an… Read More ›
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“Mary Poppins Returns” and we Love it
What is an unnecessary sequel? Correctly defined, it is a movie which doesn’t add to the legacy of the original (or any follow-ups). It is a movie that isn’t particularly good and won’t be remembered all that well. If there… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Wonder Park”
The best theme parks are truly magical places. They are these locales of wonder and excitement where anything and everything can happen. They are scary and fun and enchanting and eye-opening. They are places to wander by yourself and to… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Yardie”
A description of Idris Elba’s first directorial effort, “Yardie,” would make the movie sound as though it is something with real weight to it. It isn’t. It is a movie which meanders, never quite at ease with where it is… Read More ›
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“The Ox-Bow Incident” is Still Relevant Today
It is often said that the best movies stand the test of time. I don’t know if I would qualify “The Ox-Bow Incident” as one of the best movies ever made, but I do know that it can still… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Apollo 11”
However it may play on the small screen, or even smaller big screens, in IMAX, “Apollo 11” is a powerful piece of filmmaking. The documentary, as its name implies, focuses on the Apollo 11 trip to the moon in July… Read More ›
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Falling in Love with “Instant Family”
Somehow, probably because it’s a busy time of year, I didn’t get to see “Instant Family” when it came out in late 2018. Boy did I miss out, and, if you didn’t see it, you did too. This is a… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Greta” (2019)
There are moments in the new film, “Greta,” that are entrancingly artful. The opening credits play over the wonderful “Where are You,” and as they roll, the audience watches a young woman pick up a purse that has been left… Read More ›
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Director Mandie Fletcher on “Patrick,” Pugs, and… Peter Davison?
Up this week on the podcast we have an interview with Mandie Fletcher, whose latest effort, “Patrick,” is currently in theaters and on demand. Fletcher has directed such television shows as “Black-Adder II,” “Black Adder the Third,” “Only Fools and… Read More ›
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“Overlord,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and the Truth
I was not the most revered graduate in my class. Sure, I ran the student group my second year in school and I proved myself well enough all around, but there was something in my approach, I fear, which wasn’t… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Happy Death Day 2 U”
Released in 2017, “Happy Death Day” offers up a wonderfully funny “Groundhog Day”-esque take on a serial killer story. An insufferable college student, Tree (Jessica Rothe), is forced to relive a day over and over again as a killer in… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Isn’t it Romantic” (2019)
Sometimes in life you are forced to make a choice — you can either have option A or option B, but not both. Sometimes, each option is incompatible with the other. Try to get both, and what you end up… Read More ›
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“Nobody’s Fool” – Do People Make Relationship Lists?
In the film “Nobody’s Fool,” the Tyler Perry one, not the Paul Newman one, a character played by Tika Sumpter has a list for what she wants in a man. It’s a physical thing, and I find that perplexing. Do… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Fighting with my Family”
During one particularly telling scene in the biographical film “Fighting with my Family,” Vince Vaughn’s Hutch, a man who trains prospective WWE wrestlers, explains that wrestling ability is only part of what it takes to be a superstar in that… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “Alita: Battle Angel”
It is possible in this day and age to produce a stunningly beautiful, completely entrancing, and utterly remarkable looking film. This is the sort of piece which brings to our world that which we all know to be fake, but… Read More ›
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Movie Review: “What Men Want”
Make no mistake, Taraji P. Henson’s new comedy, “What Men Want,” is not some silly movie with no deeper purpose than to make the audience laugh (although it does do that). Directed by Adam Shankman and based on the Mel Gibson-Helen… Read More ›
The TV and Film Guy's Reviews 