The Gift is a psychological thriller written and directed by one of its stars, Joel Edgerton.  It is an engrossing exploration of human nature that turns the tables on its characters and viewers in equal measure. When a couple (Jason […]

Yet another Marvel superhero movie has been made, but this one has received a very poor reception.  It has been critically lambasted and not grossed even half of its budget.  I expected to hate it, but wouldn’t you know it […]

In the German film Phoenix, a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust (Nina Hoss) attempts to reconnect to her past, which she cannot leave behind.  Her efforts are complicated by a couple of factors; she has undergone cosmetic surgery (because of a […]

I am not a fan of updating old TV series as big feature films, even when it sometimes works (like The Fugitive).  I would rather recall the old shows with fondness (whether they were good or not) and spend my movie […]

Meryl Streep can do no wrong.  The greatest film actress of all time is right at home portraying a lifetime rock ‘n roller with tattoos, weird hair and serious mommy issues.  Streep has proven she can sing before, in several […]

Intimate character studies such as The End of the Tour may not be particularly cinematic, but they can still be terrifically entertaining.  In this case, Jason Segel portrays writer David Foster Wallace in 1996, soon after the publication of his acclaimed […]

Wow!  The best movie I’ve seen all year is the fifth — yes, the fifth! — entry in a franchise that I have had real problems with since the beginning.  Rogue Nation is a blast all the way through, with great […]

Stop-motion animation has been around since the silents of the 1920s, made famous by practitioners such as Willis O’Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Will Vinton and Nick Park. Park works for Aardman Animation, the company that produced Chicken Run and the Wallace and […]