Satire and humor run riot in Acme Propelled by the kind of publicity money can’t buy as well as a cleverly subversive advertising campaign, Dave Green’s Coyote vs. Acme arrives in theaters with great fanfare, an event that seemed destined never to occur two years ago. This was one of three films that David Zaslav, […]
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Don’t Say Good Luck realistic and moving, subplots derail Brink of War
Realism buoys Good Luck There are numerous ways a film like Don’t Say Good Luck could go wrong and yet director Julia Hart applies just the right touch to pull off this small miracle of a movie. Working from a script she co-wrote with husband Jordan Horowitz and first-time scribe Laura Hankin, the filmmaker handles […]
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Pressure is gripping from start to finish, Miss lacks emotional honesty
Unwavering determination at the core of Pressure It’s hard to grasp the scope and planning that went into the D-Day invasion that occurred on June 6, 1944. Preparations began in mid-1943 that would result in the deployment of over 156,000 Allied Forces soldiers over a 50-mile stretch of beach across two time zones. Seven million […]
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Grogu is lazy and redundant, Ryan accomplishes its mission as thriller
Grogu stultifyingly dull I remember as a child, while playing with either my army men or action figures, the scenarios I would make up for them were pretty simple. A fight would take place and then a chase, followed by another fight with maybe the arrival of another figure and then another fight and … […]
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Obsession serves as a metaphor for addiction, Kremlin is dull
Obsession a brilliant metaphor for addiction I’m going to assume Bear, the protagonist in Curry Barker’s brilliant horror film Obsession was absent the day The Monkey’s Paw was read in his language arts class. W.W. Jacobs’ seminal cautionary tale drives home again and again that if you happen to have a wish-granting talisman, you must […]
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The Sheep Detectives is captivating, Hokum examines guilt
Deft touch, amazing effects makes for captivating Sheep Deftly executed and suffused with a wry sense of humor, Kyle Balda’s The Sheep Detectives is likely to entertain the adults in the audience more than the children it’s seemingly aimed at. Adapted from the novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, the film threads a very […]
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Deep Water better than expected, message gets lost in Animal Farm remake
Water deeper than expected In the spirit of giving credit where it’s due, my hat’s off to director Renny Harlan and screenwriters Pete Bridges, Shayne Armstrong, S.P. Krause and Damien Power, where their latest film, Deep Water, is concerned. All involved obviously embraced the notion of making the ultimate disaster movie, shamelessly cribbing from The […]
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Body lasts too long, Mummy far more than a monster movie
Body becomes a bit ripe On Monday, April 20, an op-ed appeared in the New York Times with the headline “Movies are Bullying Us with Their Bloat,” by Frank Bruni. In it, the author harps on a complaint I’ve had with American movies for quite some time: their needless length. He points out the average […]
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The Drama serves as a cautionary tale, Thrash a silly, welcome respite
Smart Drama a cautionary tale for today A cautionary tale for today, Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama is a movie that thrives on making its characters and the viewer uncomfortable. Handling hot button topics with a commendable deft touch, the film puts social media era relationships under the microscope, as well as our ever-shifting perspectives of […]
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Super Mario Galaxy Movie disappoints, Fantasy Life is aimless and predictable
Galaxy simply goes through the motions I have yet to be blessed with grandchildren. Still, that doesn’t prevent me from casting my thoughts toward future events I hope to share with them. I look forward to birthday parties in which my wife and I will spend far too much money celebrating their arrival; I see […]
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Mike saved by veteran cast, Lethal is efficiently executed
Mike in desperate need of wit There’s a good idea rattling around in BenDavid Grabinski’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice. Before enduring this surprisingly dull exercise, I didn’t realize I needed a time travel-hitman-buddy-movie-dramedy. Ironically, after sitting through this slog of a movie, that need remains. Even after my plot summary you may […]
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Hail Mary good but too long, Immortal Man brings Peaky Blinders to an end
Epic Hail Mary a journey too long Having not read Andy Weir’s novel Project: Hail Mary, I came in cold to Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s big screen adaptation of the same. It didn’t take long to understand why the book was on the New York Times’ Best-Sellers List for nearly 40 weeks. Knowing that […]
