Jailhouse to Milhouse (2024)
I had a minor resistance walking into Buddy [...]
Tag: three stars
Late Night With the Devil
Late Night With the Devil is about as fascinating as it is frustrating. It’s the same problem that I had with GHOSTBUSTERS FROZEN EMPIRE but, even at its flaws, I liked this one a lot better because even with its flaws, it is wildly entertaining and features a star-making performance by David Dastmalchian. Framed as […]
Television Event (2020)
[This review is part of my ongoing coverage of the films screened at Birmingham Alabama’s 23rd Annual Sidewalk Film Festival] I have a persistent theory that every movie is a window onto the times in which it was made. This is perhaps illustrated no better than with The Day After, a widely publicized scare drama […]
Unholy Relics: Appreciating the Goofy Charm of ‘Batman the Movie’ at 55
As a movie and as a TV series “Batman” belongs in a time capsule, not of Batman lore but of a loving tribute to the pop sensation of the swinging 60s. To watch it again after almost 50 years is to be reminded of a time when television – and for that matter pop culture […]
American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story (2017)
Oh, that word. That strange, naughty, tantalizing word. If you were a kid growing up in the 70s or 80s – or basically any time between the end of World War II and the birth of the internet, “Playboy” was a word you didn’t dare utter. It fit comfortably on the list of swear words […]
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
One of the things that I really wanted from the new Spider-Man movie was a fresh approach. Please, oh please – I screamed quietly to myself – don’t tell his origin story again . . . not again! My exasperation is due in part to the fact that this is yet another reboot. There is […]
The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)
Reporting on The LEGO Batman Movie is a little tough on your average critic. There’s nothing heavy to report on this hurricane of jokes and self-referential humor except to tell you whether I laughed or I didn’t laugh. And yes, I laughed – quite a bit in fact. As a matter of fact the whirlwind […]
The Oscar nominees: La La Land (2016)
From now until February 26th, I will be taking to be taking a brief look at the nominees for The 89th Annual Academy Awards, one film at a time in several categories. Nominated for: Best Picture | Best Director | Best Actor – Ryan Gosling | Best Actress – Emma Stone | Best Original Screenplay […]
Moana (2016)
Disney’s Moana finally crosses my path almost a month after its national debut, right here on Christmas Day – a little mele kalikimaka from America’s unofficial dream factory. My first observation: It’s Disney, it’s very very Disney, from top to bottom. This movie couldn’t be Disney if you showed it in the theme park in […]
