Writer/director Jeff Roda’s “18 to Party” is set in 1984 in Upstate NY. A group of 8th graders have gathered together outside a local club, hoping to get in. They all have different personalities and represent various cliques. Some are more “popular” than others. Some have more confidence than others. What they each seem to […]
It’s amazing that it took a global pandemic for some movies that have been held for a year or two (or three) to finally be released. The latest is “The Informer”, a crime drama with a heck of a cast. It was filmed in 2017 and was originally supposed to open in Spring 2018. Well, […]
“The Life Ahead” is the first movie appearance in a decade for legendary actress Sophia Loren. It’s also her third collaboration with son Edoardo Ponti, the film’s co-writer/director. “The Life Ahead” is based on the 1975 novel, The Life Before Us by French author Romain Gary. This adaptation is set in Italy. It’s a gentle, […]
You might think October is a little early to be debuting a “holiday season” rom-com. But Netflix’s “Holidate” doesn’t just take place over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. It covers most of the major holidays throughout the year. The hook: two Chicago millennials — Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) — meet and decide […]
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 […]
Here we go again: “Synchronic” is yet another 2020 time travel movie. Unfortunately, it’s not a good one. Directors Justin Benson (who also penned it) and Aaron Moorhead needed a “Total Rewrite”. The set-up is fairly tolerable. Following a bizarre but memorable open, we meet New Orleans paramedics Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan). […]
“Bad Hair” is one of the coolest movies of 2020. It’s not the deepest or the smoothest, but it’s slick, fun and original. Props go to writer/director Justin Simien, who also penned many of the film’s original songs. This isn’t a musical, but it does take place in the music/TV scene of 1989. Cable channel […]
Netflix and director Ben Wheatley (of 2017’s disastrous action indie “Free Fire”) present a new adaptation of the classic novel, “Rebecca”. As most film aficionados know, Alfred Hitchcock directed the 1940 version that won the Best Picture Oscar. I can absolutely see this “Rebecca” taking home some gold statues for its costumes and production design. […]
Actor Dylan O’Brien raced through “The Maze Runner” trilogy. Now he follows that up with a starring role in Paramount’s post-apocalyptic action/adventure romantic comedy (with some drama too), “Love and Monsters”. O’Brien plays Joel Dawson. For the past seven years, the 24-year-old has been living in an underground bunker with a dozen fellow survivors. Joel […]
Writer/Director Cooper Raiff has created a breakthrough movie about college, college students and the college experience. Sound impossible? How about if I add that Raiff is also the lead actor in “Shithouse”. And that Raiff is only 23-years-old and this is his feature film debut in all three roles. The title refers to one of […]