“There is a good movie there, somewhere.” There are some movies that you watch and you just know it to be true—there’s a good movie there, somewhere—but it isn’t the movie as it’s been presented. The good movie, the one… Read More ›
movie review
Movie Review: “Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse”
We have all seen the action movie where the soldier decides that the higher-ups have it all wrong and goes off on his own. We have all seen the action movie where the hero is unjustly sent to prison. We… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Together Together”
Ah, the miracle of life. Who hasn’t seen the movie where the couple gets pregnant and has to go through all the ups and downs that occur before the birth of their child(ren)? There are any number of spins that… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Monday” (2020)
Watching some movies is like watching a train wreck. That statement is undeniably true, but it doesn’t go deep enough, does it? The question that has to be answered is whether that means that it’s a wreck within the frame—that… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Wheels” (2020)
We all like to root for the underdog and there is, perhaps, no better filmic example of an underdog story than “Rocky.” Although it is not about a boxer, writer-director Paul Starkman’s debut feature, “Wheels,” offers up a similar vibe… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Voyagers” (2021)
There is a hazard in writing a review of a less than great (or less than good) movie that it become simply a litany of what is wrong with the film. The farther from good the movie, the more problems… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Held” (2021)
I love a good mystery. Even if a movie itself is not within the mystery genre, if I get something to puzzle over as the story unfolds, I’m in. My concern—anyone’s concern—is that the solution to the mystery won’t be… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Concrete Cowboy”
A defining characteristic of many westerns—some may say of the genre as a whole—is the pushback against an encroaching modern world; the fight of the cowboy to preserve his way of life even as the end seems inevitable. Whatever else… Read More ›
Movie Review: “The Seventh Day” (2021)
There are some movies that you watch where you can instantly sense that something is off – the story, as presented, makes no sense. At that point, there are two basic ways to understand what is taking place – either… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Nobody” (2021)
We have all seen the action movie about the normal, average, guy who is thrust into an abnormal situation. One spin on this tale is to make the guy seem normal at first, but to give him a secretive past,… Read More ›
Movie Review: “The Courier” (2021)
To call a movie a “spy story” may offer a general idea of what it is about, but the term is also too broad to truly tell one what to expect while watching. Is it action-based? Is it a drama?… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Happily”
“What exactly am I watching?” Every so often, there is a movie which causes you to ask the question over and over and over again. “What is this?” “What am I seeing?” “What?” “How?” “Huh?” All too often, those questions… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Yes Day”
We have all heard the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover,” and yet it is something many of us do, at least on occasion. Who amongst us hasn’t seen a poster or a trailer or a TV commercial… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Cosmic Sin”
Some movies operate like a fever dream. You watch them and you stare in wonder at everything that is taking place on screen. Of course, that wonder could be good or it could be bad. The movie could be great… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Moxie” (2021)
There is a line in “Moxie,” Amy Poehler’s new Netflix film, about celebrating “the end of the mediocre white dude’s chokehold on success.” As a strictly mediocre white dude, I applaud sentiment and simultaneously note that anything I write below… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Cherry” (2021)
The new film from directors Anthony and Joe Russo, begins with the title character, Cherry, relating his story to someone. This is done via voiceover and we don’t see where Cherry is or to whom he’s speaking. Although other movies… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Crisis” (2021)
There are excellent, in-depth, incredible cinematic takes on the drug war. When one watches writer/director/producer Nicholas Jarecki’s “Crisis” it is easy to see exactly how it attempts to fit in the pantheon. Unfortunately, even if one ignores the rest of… Read More ›
Movie Review: “I Care a Lot”
Generally speaking, movies give us someone(s) to root for. Whether that’s two people getting together or folks saving the world or cops catching a killer or any number of other scenarios, when we sit down to watch a movie we… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Nomadland”
Is it a happy movie or a sad one? That might feel like a pretty silly question, but it was the one that kept swirling around in my head as I watched Chloé Zhao’s latest film, “Nomadland.” Written and directed… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Fear of Rain”
“Rear Window” is a great movie. Books have literally been written about its brilliance. One of the other interesting (and not always accurate) metrics of its greatness are the number of films which borrow some of the ideas of the… Read More ›