It’s somewhere In the third act that CRUELLA goes from being a frothy Disney confection to a Guy Ritchie knock off. Until then, this origin story about the woman who wanted to turn 101 dalmatians into outer wear is pure eye candy with a villainess more deliciously reprehensible than Cruella herself, and even more overdressed.… Read More »
LAST CHRISTMAS
LAST CHRISTMAS is a lugubrious exercise in muddled storytelling. Billed as a romantic comedy, there is little humor to be found as the romance between a klutz who’s lost her way in life, and the handsome stranger who pops in and out of that life fails to ignite past the infamous friend zone. The klutz… Read More »
MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL
When a once profitable film franchise begins to fade, the studios that have reaped the benefits of same are left with little choice about how to handle it. With so much money at stake, both in ticket sales and ancillary merchandise on the line, they can’t just let it slip away with dignity. No, they… Read More »
EFFIE GRAY is Worth Knowing
On her first night as a wife, the title character of EFFIE GRAY is disconcerted to see her husband spirited away to his bath after his long trip from Scotland by his mother. Later, at dinner, said mother all but tosses a gift to Effie telling her she might as well have it, since she… Read More »
SAVING MR. BANKS
I have three problems with SAVING MR. BANKS, only one of which springs from knowing how much of the story has been Disney-fied. A feature film is not real life, even when based as this one is on actual events if for no other reason, as someone once said, real life doesnt have to make… Read More »
NANNY MCPHEE
There is something deeply satisfying about a fable with a time-honored story line that may offer no surprises as to plot points as it barrels along to its conclusion, but that does, nonetheless, pay strict attention to the serious moral lesson to be learned from it while also strictly adhering to a loopy, almost anarchic… Read More »
STRANGER THAN FICTION
In STRANGER THAN FICTION, Will Ferrell bravely sets aside the manic side of his personna in favor of that personna’s innate sweetness. It’s a bold move and one that is not without charm, but it’s also one that should have been better served than it is by a script that takes far too long to get… Read More »
NANNY MCHPHEE RETURNS
Its as though Emma Thompson had a backlog of story ideas and wanted to use them all at once with NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS. The less than magical sequel to her enchanting NANNY MCPHEE is at once a story of British stiff upper lips during the Blitz, a bizarrely cartoonish tale of a gambler without the… Read More »