Brian De Palma has made some truly wonderful films. He has a talent for ratcheting up the tension and creating some very memorable sequences. His latest, the Nikolaj Coster-Waldau starring “Domino” may have an interesting moment or two, but it is… Read More ›
Last year audiences were treated to the story of Freddie Mercury (or a version of it) in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” As you may recall if you read my piece on the film, I liked it but also had real problems with… Read More ›
As you may have noticed, superheroes are all the rage today. You can’t go to a multiplex without having a superhero movie playing on multiple screens or trailers for several upcoming films or lobby cards or some combination thereof. It therefore… Read More ›
Every few years a new senior year in high school/senior prom/graduation movie comes along. By and large, these tend to be truly raunchy comedies. And yet, for all the raunch, the best entries in the genre manage to get at… Read More ›
Do opposites really attract? There is an incredibly large number of movies which display individuals from very different backgrounds falling in love with one another and, perhaps, living happily ever after (stories tend to focus less on what happens next). … Read More ›
There are movies which are easy to watch, or rather, ones that the audience can receive without difficulty. Then there are more difficult watches, ones which require the audience to be an active viewer… or maybe even an active participant…. Read More ›
Sometimes it doesn’t matter how foolish the impetus for a plot is, but rather how the work follows up that foolishness. One well worn movie and television storyline has people covering up an accidental death. Often such tales are ridiculous, with… Read More ›
There can be no doubt that Charles Manson was a charismatic figure and that there is, quite clearly, a (morbid) fascination that still exists today around the crimes his “family” committed in the late ’60s. It is easy to sit… Read More ›
Computer generated special effects in this day and age are amazing things. What once may have seemed stiff and awkward now flows smoothly. The ability for the real and the imaginary to interact perfectly with one another is a delight, to… Read More ›
Sometimes skepticism is healthy, and sometimes it is not. All too often, however, it is impossible to tell to which side one’s skepticism belongs. As an example, take director John Chester’s documentary, “The Biggest Little Farm.” The piece focuses on… Read More ›
While you may know Jessica Rothe from “Happy Death Day” and “Happy Death Day 2 U,” those are not the charismatic actress’s only enjoyable performances. After playing on the big screen around the country, “Tater Tot & Patton” is arriving on… Read More ›
The rebooted “Hellboy” starts off with a voiceover by Ian McShane. Laying out the evil that Hellboy will be facing in this film, this opening feels absurdly rushed, as though McShane couldn’t wait to be done reading it, finish this… Read More ›
It seems so very improbable that after decades trying to make “The Man who Killed Don Quixote,” Terry Gilliam’s movie is going to finally hit theaters here in the United States. In fact, it is a remarkable enough occurrence that… Read More ›
When telling a story, the question of motivation is an important one – why do the people in it do what they do, what prompts them to follow a certain path. In movies (or books or TV, etc.), the reasons… Read More ›
It is a wonderful setup for a movie – two lonely houses on the prairie, no one around for miles, and some sort of evil spirit lurking. The spirit that comes at night, on the wind, and terrorizes the women… Read More ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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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