“It’s Time to Raise the Curtain. It’s Time to Light the Lights!” Well…maybe not. “The Happytime Murders” is directed by Brian Henson – son of the late, iconic “Muppets” creator Jim Henson. The younger Henson tried to make his own great puppet caper – for adults. You certainly won’t find Kermit, Miss Piggy or Big […]
Six-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close stars in “The Wife”, a drama based on the 2003 novel – set in 1992. As the film begins Close’s Joan Castleman is celebrating her husband, well-known author Joe Castleman (played by Jonathan Pryce) receiving the Nobel Piece Prize for Literature. But there seems to be something wrong. We […]
Even great relationships hit a pothole every once in awhile. For Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg, “Mile 22” is their pothole – except, in this case, it’s a crater. This is the fourth collaboration between actor Wahlberg and director Berg, who previously brought three true-life stories to the screen: 2013’s memorable “Lone Survivor”, 2016’s uninspiring […]
“BlacKkKlansman” is the latest Spike Lee “joint”. It’s the director’s most high-profile release since 2006’s “Inside Man” and will likely be seen by many critics and movie fans as a career “comeback”. As a stand alone film, this is a unique and thought/emotion-provoking effort, though, at times a bit heavy-handed. John David Washington – Denzel’s […]
On the heels of last summer’s disappointing spy action comedy “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”, starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson, Lionsgate now offers-up their female counterpart in the genre – “The Spy Who Dumped Me”. That title probably sold well in the pitch meeting. However, the final product is a mess and easily one of the […]
“The Equalizer 2” is the first sequel of Denzel Washington’s career. He told Jimmy Kimmel that the script was good enough for the film to be made (unlike “Inside Man 2”, which he said didn’t make any sense at all). Washington re-teams with Antoine Fuqua, who also directed the original. These two have become one […]
Gus Van Sant’s “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” is an off-beat biopic of John Callahan, the lifelong alcoholic who was confined to a wheelchair following a drunken car crash and then become a popular, edgy cartoonist for the New Yorker and other publications. Joaquin Phoenix, one of the most versatile actors of our […]
It’s rare for a sequel to be greenlit when the original only earned $47 million in the U.S. But “Sicario: Day of the Soldado”, the follow-up to 2015’s action/thriller “Sicario”, is not your typical sequel – mainly due to a shuffle in its lineup. Emily Blunt, who starred in the original, is not in “Soldado”. […]
Here’s a piece of advice for anyone looking to edit trailers as a profession: Don’t begin a trailer (that everyone will have seen in theaters and online for several months) with the climactic moment in the movie. That egregious mistake was made with “Tag”. And it’s far from the only one. “Tag” stars Jon Hamm, […]
Lately the title “Horror Movie” has been awarded to films that just don’t deserve it. “Get Out” has a few gory moments in its final half hour, but it’s a suspense thriller. “mother!” includes its share of blood, but not the slicing and dicing found in traditional horror films. And neither provide the scares required […]