Monthly Archives: September 2018

Just my luck, a Viking movie to review and fresh out of Spam. Bloody Vikings. And while I’ll watch most anything with Vikings in it, “Viking Destiny” gives that brand loyalty a pretty severe test. A flagon of mead could … Continue reading →

Epic shootouts in the movies make you clench up, reflexively duck. They’re visceral and heart-pounding, which is why they’re an integral part of many a best-selling video game. It’s that famous Churchill quote about being shot at and missed — … Continue reading →

Here’s a knotty little thriller about a “psychic medium” with an eye for the main chance, if not the gift he’d need to take advantage of it. Because if you’re supposed to be able in touch with the spirit world, … Continue reading →

Reliably hilarious together, master improvisers, the Kings of One-Upping Each Other, do Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly have another buddy farce hit in them? Hell, the world’s been WAITING for a Ralph Fiennes version of Professor Moriarty. And in … Continue reading →

Put hotheaded, just-quit working class mechanic Jason Mantzoukas (“The Dictator,” “The House”) in a car with child of privilege Tony Revolori (“Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Spider-Man”)  and send them into desert Southwest America. Laughs see sure to follow. Pamela Reed, Taissa … Continue reading →

This box office prognostication thing, which for me is more reporting on what others are saying they’re finding out from studio tracking, IMDb searches, etc., has few hard and fast truths. One is that EVERYbody doing it underestimates what will … Continue reading →

I’ve interviewed Peter Jackson a few times over the years, and often as the conversation was winding up, he’d talk of the war movie he wanted to make — a version of WWII’s “The Dam Busters,” about RAF pilots who … Continue reading →

The bar has been set high for Kevin Hart comedies, and adding new star Tiffany Haddish to the mix should prove a boon for “Night School,” an indifferent star-comedy with little to recommend it — a few laughs, widely scattered … Continue reading →

There’s been so much written, said and filmed about New York’s famed disco era icon Studio 54, that filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer was hard-pressed to find anything new for his documentary, “Studio 54” (Oct. 5). What he settled on was the tactile … Continue reading →

Musically sharp and dramatically flat, the latest version of “A Star is Born” starts impressively and falls off suddenly, a sudsy, overwrought remake that drowns in its abrupt, perfunctory emotional leaps. All this hype around Lady Gaga’s big screen debut? … Continue reading →