Director Dennis Dugan’s films have earned $1.8 billion worldwide. Many have starred Adam Sandler including “Happy Gilmore”, “Big Daddy”, “Grown Ups”, “Just Go With It” and “Jack and Jill” (a personal favorite). But when Sandler shifted his movie operations to Netflix, Dugan didn’t go with him. It’s been a long time between features for Dugan […]
’Tis the Season for holiday rom-coms. Ironically however, watching “Happiest Season” won’t make you happy. In fact, this is the most unpleasant movie of the year. And it has nothing to do with the concept: a modern day, seasonal romance involving a young Lesbian couple. It’s the characters, situations, themes and overall tone which combine […]
Director Christopher Landon’s latest horror take on a classic movie concept was originally titled “Freaky Friday the 13th”. So you can probably guess the plot just from that title (and also why it had to be changed). Landon previously made “Happy Death Day” (the horror version of “Groundhog Day”). He plays-off the body-switching concept for […]
It’s unclear why director Robert Zemeckis, co-writer Guillermo del Toro, producer Alfonso Cuaron and Warner Bros. thought a new version of “The Witches” was necessary. The 1983 Roald Dahl novel is not one of his most celebrated works. The 1990 movie starring Anjelica Huston, though liked by critics, only made $10 million at the box […]
“Kajillionaire” is one of 2020’s toughest movies to like. There’s so much that writer/director Miranda July does to prevent us from believing this story and attaching ourselves to the characters. The film’s only authentic feature is that it’s centered around grifters: scam artists who secretly steal in order to provide for themselves while taking advantage […]
“The New Mutants” was filmed in 2017. Its original release date was April 13, 2018. The movie has been delayed about a half dozen times since. In fact, some moviegoers and diehard “X-Men” fans were beginning to think it would never open… or that maybe it didn’t even exist. However, during a time when so […]
What do you get when you combine “The Purge” and “Booksmart”? The new Hulu comedy “The Binge”. While this film is a mash-up of those other movies, it does have a somewhat unique premise: what if consuming alcohol and drugs was banned in the U.S. — except for one day a year? The cast of […]
Oh, boy… “Boys State” earned the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary filmmaking at this year’s Sundance Film Festival (yes, the Sundance Film Festival WAS held this year). It also received Special Jury Recognition at Texas-based SXSW, one of the first 2020 film fests to convert to online. A little hometown bias may have played a […]
Every year or two, Hollywood offers a slightly different spin on the world of political campaigns. Some are taken directly from the headlines (“Game Change”, “The Front Runner”). Others use real-life for inspiration (“The Ides of March”, “Long Shot”, “The Campaign”, “Swing Vote”). The latest to enter the arena is “Irresistible”. It’s written and directed […]
“Salt”, “Lucy”, “Atomic Blonde” and “Red Sparrow” are just some of the recent entries in the female action spy/thriller genre. Only the first on that list actually worked. “The Rhythm Section” was supposed to be a 2019 release. So it’s fair to call it a leftover. And it’s not worth the wait. For a film […]