Reviews And Otherwise

Reviewing Nanette Burstein’s simplifying overview of Elizabeth Taylor, favoring iconic star status over in-depth career insights. Also, some comments on Martin Scorsese’s tribute to the legendary British filmmaking duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

A few words about Laurent Bouzereau’s documentary of Faye Dunaway, which makes a case for her best screen performances, while trying to downplay or rationalize her irritability as part of getting the job done.

Examining Yorgos Lanthimos’s trifecta of thematic overlap smothered in cleverness, currently favored over Kevin Costner’s more thematically challenging epic Western. Also: Alicia Vikander as Katherine Parr stands her ground against Jude Law’s Henry VIII in the uneven but worthwhile FIREBRAND.

Offering context as to how HOOPER, a 1978 Burt Reynolds/Hal Needham ode to stuntpeople, and THE FALL GUY, a Lee Majors/Glen Larson 1980s TV series about a crime-solving stuntman, gave birth to an “original” would-be blockbuster.

Mammoth victory lap documentaries usurped by modest Jerry Lee Lewis chronicles dumped by A24. Plus THE BEEKEEPER/WICKED LITTLE LETTERS/THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE.

Alex Garland’s opaque on purpose Divided America epic, plus easier to grasp monster and demonic fare.

Reviewing this year’s first surefire blockbuster plus Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s lesbians on the road comedy, which will likely find a larger audience via streaming.

Discussing 50s noir films including I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES, PICKUP and ROADBLOCK. Also, a few words about the black-and-white version of GODZILLA MINUS ONE, which complements its 1954 ancestor GOJIRA.

Bradley Cooper takes a technical leap forward in his biopic of Leonard Bernstein, but it’s Carey Mulligan’s performance as wife/partner Felicia that saves this from being merely awards aspirant.

Paul King of PADDINGTON fame combines with the Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts production team to give viewers Timothee Chalamet as young Willy Wonka in a not-magical-enough origin story.

Discussing what, as of mid-December, are the best 2023 releases I’ve seen—along with honorable mentions and one watchable underachiever.

Nick Broomfield’s Brian Jones documentary and Emerald Fennell’s satirical comedy/drama have this in common: English estates where people come to premature ends.

Reviewing David Gordon Green’s flawed but not bad addition to the EXORCIST franchise, the latest Scorsese (very good, but too soon to know where it will stand in his canon) and Alexander Payne’s return to form after the misfire of DOWNSIZING.

Anton Corbijn’s documentary about the record cover photo/design company which, in its lifespan, proceeded from the psychedelic 60s to the careless Imperial Rock Star period of the late 70s before punk, synthpop and music videos hurried its demise. Also, the understandably dumped by Lionsgate COBWEB—Samuel Bodin taking a good premise and botching it by over reliance on exaggeration and shoutouts to...

Reviewing the DC Latinx superhero film which is a big budget homage to mediocre Cannon Films 80s fare, plus a new documentary about people irradiated by nuclear weapons tests ranging from the 1950s to 1992.

Eulogizing William Friedkin’s career, with attention paid to THE DEVIL AND FATHER AMORTH and the dual versions of RAMPAGE (plus sidebar on J. Lee Thompson’s 10 TO MIDNIGHT).

Reviews of three movies which demand theatrical viewing: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING PART ONE, ASTEROID CITY and INDIANA JONES AND THE. DIAL OF DESTINY.

At this writing, audiences are actively avoiding seeing Andy Muschietti’s THE FLASH during its theatrical release. Here are a few thoughts about the serpentine, tone-shifting route of the pre-James Gunn DCEU (not counting the Christopher Nolan/Matt Reeves BATMAN quartet), multiverse mania, what does work in THE FLASH and the conclusion that the less-broad Zack Snyder approach to Barry Allen/Flash...

Reviewing the new Stephen King adaptation, Mary Harron’s conventional, cliched take on Salvador Dali’s 1970s and contextualizing Glenda Jackson’s British and American successes.

Reviewing the latest example of Disney remaking its classics and the new comedy of manners from Nicole Holofcener.

Russell Crowe, last seen by me as a killer road rage driver, classes up a new entry into the almost five-decade exorcism religious horror genre. Also, May Pang, John Lennon’s lover and working companion from 1973 to 1975. states her case for being a positive influence on Lennon during a period often mischaracterized as nonstop partying.

Reviews of Ben Affleck’s AIR and Jesse Atlas’s ASSASSIN-the final Bruce Willis film to be released.

Like TOP GUN: MAVERICK, the latest version of the John Wick fight/kill saga is an example of critics and audiences going gaga over undeniable filmmaking skill and craftsmanship.

A few words on the noneventful-on-purpose 2023 Academy Awards ceremony, plus comments on sequels CREED III (good) and SCREAM VI (uneven).

Reviewing Neil Jordan’s MARLOWE, with a discussion of how Robert Mitchum’s two 1970s films as Philip Marlowe are the spiritual ancestors of Liam Neeson’s performance.