There have been some epic zombie movies since George Romero shot Night of the Living Dead in 1968. This one aims to be truly epic, taking almost two-and-a-half hours to tell its heist story — and yet I find it overblown […]
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Love, Weddings and Other Disasters (2020) ☆ ☆ 1/2
Romantic comedies centering on weddings and intersecting relationships are not really my forte, but I have to admit that this one, against high odds, is rather charming and amusing. Most of Dennis Dugan’s movies don’t amuse me; I still cringe […]
Continue reading »Breaking News in Yuba County (2021) ☆ ☆
Social satire is tough to create and maintain. Witness this attempt to satirize the meaning of fame and success in modern America, where anyone can be famous for pretty much anything, and the desire for such fame — and perceived […]
Continue reading »Unearth (2020) ☆ 1/2
I’ll say for this in defense of Unearth: it’s different. It’s a horror film that isn’t horrifying until the final ten minutes or so, and then the tonal shift of the material is so drastic that it seems to be from […]
Continue reading »Mulan (2020) ☆ ☆ ☆
In general I find the Disney studio’s recent trend to create live-action versions of their animated classics to be redundant and tiresome. It’s probably a brilliant business decision, but it seems to me that later versions cannot help but cheapen […]
Continue reading »Black Widow (2021) ☆ ☆ ☆
Superhero movies are not my favorites, but I can appreciate a good one. Black Widow is a good one, I think, because it functions on multiple levels. First, it is an origin story for the massively popular Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett […]
Continue reading »Ava (2020) ☆ 1/2
Several movies in recent years have turned the tables on hitman / assassin archetypes and cast lethal ladies (Charlize Theron, Hailee Steinfeld, Gina Carano, the Kill Bill femmes, etc., etc.). Latest in this trend is Jessica Chastain, playing an American assassin […]
Continue reading »The Midnight Sky (2020) ☆ ☆
End of civilization movies have been a potent genre of cinema since the 1980s, with at least a couple appearing every year. Recently I’ve seen several, the most high profile of them being The Midnight Sky, directed by and starring George […]
Continue reading »Misbehaviour (2020) ☆ ☆ 1/2
I really enjoy film projects that recreate lesser-known moments of history and bring them to life on screen. This particular drama, the British film Misbehaviour, recounts feminist protests made surrounding the 1970 Miss World pageant in London, hosted by Bob Hope. […]
Continue reading »The Ice Road (2021) ☆ ☆
Liam Neeson is at it again in the Great White North. Following Cold Pursuit and The Grey, Neeson is living proof that action-oriented fare can be promulgated in the frozen tundras of Alaska and, in this case, Canada. The unusual setting certainly […]
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