When “Searching” was released in 2018, it made a little noise at the box office. Some moviegoers were intrigued by its unique, but faulty, point of view. A dad (John Cho) uses his missing daughter’s computer webcam to try and track her down. Nearly the entire movie takes place on this screen, with various windows […]
James Cameron released “Avatar” in December 2009, 12 years after his previous film, the powerhouse “Titanic”. “Avatar” was not the first major 3D release of the modern era (there were plenty of animated films already showcasing the technology). But its gigantic success put cartoon dollar signs in the eyeballs of every studio exec. In early […]
Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” is inspired by the iconic director’s childhood and early love of seeing and making movies. It’s a drama filled with conflict, pain, and characters feeling sad and depressed. Ironically, it’s also one of the lightest dramas I’ve ever seen in recent years. Maybe that’s because the film is replete with corny, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
“Operation Mincemeat” is the Britain-based, true story, WWII drama of the 1943 secret operation to pull-off a massive Allied invasion of occupied Sicily. Or, as Colin Firth’s Naval officer Ewen Montagu says, “We’re going to play a humiliating trick on Hitler.” Firth headlines the year’s best ensemble cast to date. Montagu teams with fellow officer […]
The magic is dead. At least the magic that comes from the Wizarding World. I wasn’t a fan of 2016’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and enjoyed 2018 follow-up “The Crimes of Grindelwald” only a smidge more. This third installment in the “Harry Potter” prequel franchise, “The Secrets of Dumbledore”, is the least […]