Political satire is tricky to create and impossible to satisfy everyone who witnesses it. For every viewer that sees brilliance and cleverness someone else sees insult and stupidity, and that’s just due to its political content. Factor in style, pace, […]
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Ready Player One (2018) ☆ ☆
Steven Spielberg is my favorite director but occasionally he chooses projects which I wish he would have skipped. This is one of them. I am aware that the Edward Cline book on which it is based (Cline also co-wrote the […]
Continue reading »Love, Simon (2018) ☆ ☆ ☆
Although it is comedically uneven there is no question that Love, Simon is a heartfelt exploration of what it means for a young man to come out publicly as gay. The story’s protagonist, Simon (Nick Robinson), has “a big secret,” one […]
Continue reading »The Leisure Seeker (2017) ☆ ☆ ☆
Some high-profile films in the recent past have spotlighted the challenges and difficulties facing elderly people or those afflicted with memory loss, such as Still Alice and Mr. Holmes. These and others are now joined by the dramatic comedy The Leisure Seeker, […]
Continue reading »Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) ☆ ☆
I liked the giant robot vs. kaiju (giant monsters from another dimension) movie Pacific Rim (2013), which I feel is a lot of fun. The story picks up ten years later, after the kaiju threat is considered moot, in an indifferent […]
Continue reading »7 Days in Entebbe (2018) ☆ ☆ 1/2
The airliner hijacking at the center of this story took place in 1976, and within two years three movies and made-for-TV movies chronicled the event. Now a new project takes another look at a fateful week in world history, and […]
Continue reading »Annihilation (2018) ☆ ☆ 1/2
Is it possible for a movie to be too successful at achieving its goals — so good at its intentions that it becomes more of an intellectual exercise than an emotional experience? I would argue that this has happened with Annihilation, […]
Continue reading »Death Wish (2018) ☆ ☆
I’m not a fan of the first Death Wish, a mean, nasty, ugly 1974 ode to vigilantism which was incredibly popular. There is no doubt that it was effective, but it pandered to basic, elemental fears and blood lust. It also […]
Continue reading »Call Me by Your Name (2017) ☆ ☆ 1/2
After all of the hype surrounding this drama — a Best Picture nomination, a Best Adapted Screenplay win for James Ivory, et al — I must admit that I am disappointed with it. Partly because the film is just overlong […]
Continue reading »Red Sparrow (2018) ☆ ☆ ☆
Intricately plotted spy thrillers often intrigue me, and this one feels like a vintage John le Carré plot — except that le Carré normally avoids the kind of sexual fireworks that Red Sparrow exploits. This movie is based on a Jason Matthews […]
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