Being a science-fiction fan I’ve been looking forward to Passengers since the first preview I’ve seen.  This is a film that represents the best of science-fiction: a grandly sweeping story with a personal focus, structured on a scale of immensity, against […]

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Anthropomorphism reaches a new plateau in Sing, an animal-character story in which a theater-owning koala bear tries to save his failing business by hosting a voice competition (ala “American Idol” or “The Voice”).  In this day and age such a concept […]

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I love my avocation of watching and writing about movies — yet sometimes it pains me when I do not connect with a movie or a trend that other people adore.  Such is the case with the new romantic fantasy […]

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Just as the Star Wars universe is becoming more diverse, so is the stable of Disney animation characters and stories.  Princesses still rule the roost, but The Princess and the Frog‘s Tiana and Moana‘s Moana at least look and sound differently than the […]

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I like the Star Wars franchise, but I don’t revere it the way some do.  I’ve actually met people who claim to have seen the first one (A New Hope) fifty or more times.  Now you can’t even see the original […]

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Based on real people and events, Loving tells the story of Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton) and his wife Mildred (Ruth Negga).  Richard is a white bricklayer; Mildred is black; after marrying in the District of Columbia they return to live in […]

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If Alfred Hitchcock were still alive and making movies, he might have made this slick, visually stunning, disturbing suspense drama.  As I was watching it, I saw specific shots and camera angles that I feel he would have enjoyed and […]

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Just now getting a release is a strange but compelling movie called Man Down, starring an actor for whom I have little feeling, Shia LaBeouf.  However, he’s pretty good in this modern war / family drama / apocalypse story.  Yes, that’s […]

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Raunchy comedies are not my cup of tea, so it should not be a surprise that I despise films like this.  But allow me to give credit where credit is due — old pros Billy Bob Thornton and Kathy Bates […]

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War once again rears its ugly head in Allied, a World War II thriller that wanders from North Africa to England and occupied France.  Intelligence agent Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) is assigned a suicide mission with French woman Marianne (Marion Cotillard) […]

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