Life
Artistry of ‘The Red Turtle’ overcomes woo-woo story line
Having a Best Animated Feature category at the Academy Awards has brought attention to some truly offbeat movies.…
Life
‘Son of Joseph’ has soulful approach to movies
It is always exciting when a filmmaker comes out of nowhere with a fully formed and distinctively new…
Life
‘Fist Fight’ bashes its single joke for 91 uninspired minutes
The promised spectacle of two teachers planning a brawl is actually the least of the problems for the…
Life
Hit man John Wick is back in an absurdly violent sequel
He once killed three men in a bar with a pencil. Yes, that’s right, there’s another John Wick…
Life
Anti-biopic ‘Neruda’ plays a twisted game
Director Pablo Larrain has described his film “Neruda” as an anti-biopic, and that sounds right. Although its title…
Life
Oscar-nominated comedy ‘Toni Erdmann’ is truly wild
Movie comedy lacks a wild streak. We get funny films occasionally, and certainly there are performers who can…
Life
Daryl Davis documentary disrobes racism in America
There’s a great little-known 1936 film called “Black Legion,” in which Humphrey Bogart — not yet a big…
Life
Baldwin biopic on race in America is spellbinding
“Public intellectuals,” as a species, once roamed the American airwaves.
Life
Sandy Hook survivors turn to Shakespeare in ‘Midsummer’
When a teacher asks a child where she goes to school, and the child cheerfully answers, “Sandy Hook,”…
Life
De Niro in ‘Comedian’ has no funny bone
At awards shows the presenters are forever trying to make scripted banter funny. The results are usually painful.
Life
Mars movie ‘Space Between Us’ lacks gravity
It’s a pun, see, the title of this movie, because “The Space Between Us” is about a teenager…
Life
‘A Dog’s Purpose’: Have tissues at the ready for this tale
Having recently made my reservations about talking-dog movies a public issue, it is with a sigh of reality…
Life
‘All Governments Lie’ contrasts today’s press with I.F. Stone
It takes years, usually, to create documentaries, and filmmakers can’t possibly predict what the world will be like…
Life
‘Julieta’ has touch of master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s hand
He is now 68 years old, but in recent years Pedro Almodovar hasn’t been making films like an…
Life
Matthew McConaughey’s performance doesn’t glitter in ‘Gold’
The deal with Matthew McConaughey is, when his gung-ho approach to acting is channeled into a strong character…
Life
‘20th Century Women’ too clever for its own good
There’s a talking dog in “Beginners,” the 2010 movie that won Christopher Plummer a supporting actor Oscar. To…
Life
‘Split’ proves Shyamalan still has a knack for thrillers
Back in the heyday of “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” writer-director M. Night Shyamalan had no shortage of…
Life
McDonald’s movie ‘Founder’ has no bite
According to “The Founder,” Ray Kroc — the man who made McDonald’s into the Godzilla of the restaurant…
Life
‘Paterson’ as pleasurable as a well-crafted poem
If Paterson, New Jersey, already seems over-blessed with great poets — William Carlos Williams and Allen Ginsberg both…
Life
‘Live by Night’ has way too much going on
If “Live by Night” were as well-written as it is well-designed, it might achieve classic status. Alas, this…