Bill Nighy has charmed audiences on stage and screen for more than five decades, particularly in his native England. He became a household name to U.S. audiences with his role as singer Billy Mack in 2003 rom-com “Love Actually”. Memorable characters in two “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” installments followed, along […]
“What is happening here?” and “This is so strange” are two lines spoken by Christian Bale’s character Burt in director David O. Russell’s new film “Amsterdam”. They were also two of the thoughts constantly swirling around in my head while watching “Amsterdam”. O. Russell (who also wrote the screenplay) took the mildly intriguing 1933 Business […]
Riding the popularity of recent murder mystery films such as “Knives Out” (and the upcoming sequel), the “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile” remakes, and the generically titled “Murder Mystery”, comes a more tongue-in-cheek approach to the whodunit genre. Agatha Christie’s play “The Mousetrap” has been performed continuously in London’s West […]
“Gigi & Nate” is inspired by the true story of a young man and his life-changing friendship with a service animal, who happens to be a capuchin monkey. 17-year-old Nate Gibson (played by Charlie Rowe) was just weeks away from starting college when he contracted meningitis, which resulted in him becoming a quadriplegic. Some of […]
“Emily the Criminal” is one of 2022’s more unique and engrossing movies, thanks to the one-two punch of an interesting, largely successful story and convincing performance from star Aubrey Plaza. Emily is single, barely surviving life in L.A. as a delivery person for a catering company. She has $70,000 in student loan debt… and a […]
Actor B.J. Novak (“The Office”, “Saving Mr. Banks”) has written and directed his first film, which he also stars in. “Vengeance” is not a cold-blooded action thriller. Nor is it a prequel to the awful 2010 family feature “Furry Vengeance” with Brendan Fraser (which still gives me chills every time I think about it). This […]
“Mr. Malcolm’s List” is directed by Emma Holly Jones and written by Suzanne Allain, who based the screenplay on her 2009 novel (of the same name) about romance and class distinction in 19th Century London. I’m about to give this film a very positive review, something I genuinely didn’t think would be happening after watching […]
In the mood for a quality movie that’s a good old-fashioned good time? Then hit the jackpot with “Jerry & Marge Go Large”, streaming on Paramount+. I’ve liked several of David Frankel’s films, including “The Devil Wears Prada”, and largely overlooked “The Big Year” and “One Chance”. He knows how to make personal stories for […]
It was Saturday March 14th, 2020. The world had shut down the day before. I was looking for something to do at home, so I watched “Stargirl”, which had dropped on Disney+ the day before. The feature film adaptation of the popular 2000 novel by Jerry Spinelli starred “America’s Got Talent” winner Grace VanderWaal in […]
“The Valet” is a rom-com remake of a 2006 French film. Popular Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez serves as executive producer and star. Antonio plays a Los Angeles valet who lives in apartment with his mother and is going through a separation with his wife (they share custody of their teen son). Antonio crosses paths with […]