Among the primates, expect for humans, widening the mouth and showing the teeth is a signal of aggression. In humans, it’s called a smile, and I’m sure that anthropologists have made much hay about that behavioral disconnect between us and our cousins. Parker Finn, in his feature film debut as writer and director, also makes… Read More »
THE GOOD HOUSE
Based on the novel of the same name by Ann Leary, THE GOOD HOUSE gives us a year in the life of Hildy Good (Sigourney Weaver), descendant of the first woman accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials, and the most successful realtor on Boston’s North Shore. She’s tough, smart, and her family’s financial… Read More »
HOCUS POCUS 2
If you were even mildly enchanted, amused, chilled, or any combination of those three, by the original HOCUS POCUS, I beg you to avoid the sequel at all costs. It is a travesty of a flick, and an insult to that darkly whimsical tale of 29 years ago. To remind you, it introduced us to… Read More »
DON’T WORRY DARLING
DON’T WORRY DARLING is not the most coherent of feminist manifestos, but it is an ambitious one, exploring as it does several variants of toxic masculinity, some unexpected, but no less pernicious for the surprise factor. Using a devoted couple, Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles) as the focal point of gender dynamics, the… Read More »
THE INFERNAL MACHINE
THE INFERNAL MACHINE begins as a spare and tense film driven by Guy Pearce’s measured performance as tormented author Bruce Cogburn. Alas, not even Pearce’s fine work as Cogburn slowly unravels from years of guilt can make up for a script whose third act becomes cryptically obtuse, rather than dynamically charged, before it just goes… Read More »
NOTHING COMPARES
It is high time for a re-appraisal of Sinéad O’Connor. Now best remembered with a tinge of distaste for tearing up a picture of the Pope on “Saturday Night Live” in 1992, the singer is the focus of Kathryn Ferguson’s documentary, NOTHING COMPARES. Centering on O’Connor’s precipitous rise to stardom at barely 21 to the… Read More »
SEE HOW THEY RUN
SEE HOW THEY RUN is a handsomely mounted period piece with a clever premise undermined by an irksome dithering about its tone and a rampant directorial lethargy. Calling out tropes from cinema and literary mysteries with the sort of wild abandon from which the pacing would have profited, this uneven comedy takes us to 1953,… Read More »
PINOCCHIO
Just because you >can< render an animated classic into a live-action CGI extravaganza doesn’t mean that you should. Case in point, PINOCCHIO. It’s not an awful film but bringing the animated characters into the real world doesn’t add anything to the story of a little wooden puppet who dreams of being a real boy. Rather,… Read More »
EMERGENCY DECLARATION (Bisang seoneon)
EMERGNCY DECLARATION wants to take you on a hyper-roller coaster ride with an airborne tale of bio-terrorism, and it does. A worthy throwback to the disaster films of a generation or so ago, it is the perfect action film for the age of COVID, and a thrill-packed time that will wring every emotion out of… Read More »
HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL.
HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL. is a deadly satire that exhibits a Christian compassion not always evident in its protagonists. Not that those protagonists have the self-awareness to register their lack of same. This satire finds much to mock when it comes to mega-churches and the gospel of prosperity, but it chooses to use… Read More »
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