I binged the new comedy series “Brothers” because it pairs up a couple of longtime faves — Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. And while I didn’t instantly regret that, regret did come early — by the second episode. And it … Continue reading →

Well, damn. Who’d have guessed that the best combat thriller about the evacuation and fall of Kabul, Afghanistan would be Hungarian, and about Hungarian NATO troops battling to get Hungarian nationals and embassy staff out of that benighted country? “Operation … Continue reading →

All the cliches, tropes and tricks of the rock star biopic are trotted out for “Less of a Stranger,” a Polish prance down the primrose path of pop stardom. “Less of a Stranger?” That phrase applies to this Polish production … Continue reading →

Lorne Michaels, the inscrutable guru who changed Saturday nights in America by creating “Saturday Night Live” and then presiding over it for almost all of its 51 years, is the “star” and central figure of mystery of “Lorne.” The documentary … Continue reading →

Isn’t it about time that America’s film schools added a “How to End Your Movie” course to their curricula? I know that they don’t have such “Finishing” or “Stick the Landing” stand-alone tutorials set up, and not just from covering … Continue reading →

Jessica Chastain has a horror hit on her hands. Replacing Jesse Eisenberg with the more naturally menacing, taller and less ZuckerberglyJeremy Strong blows up in Aaron Sorkin’s face with his Facebook Takes a Hit sequel to “The Social Network,” “The … Continue reading →

The viewer keeps waiting for “Tenzing,” the new bio-drama of the life of “the other man” to be the first to summit Mount Everest, to take a false step. But director Jennifer Peedom comes from documentaries and she’s made films … Continue reading →

“Don’t Move” begins with a tragedy so vivid and horrific it sets us up for a much better thriller than the movie that follows. A competent, can-do mother braves the flames of a seedy amusement park haunted house horror ride … Continue reading →

It’s not shocking to realize that William Friedkin, one of the star directors of ’70s filmmaking, took a breather and attempted a caper comedy after the ordeals of “The French Connection” and “Sorcerer,” seeing as how the latter film damn … Continue reading →

One has to appreciate the huge swing four-time Oscar winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu and his Oscarless star Tom Cruise took with their climate crisis and culture satire “Digger.” But it’s still a swing and an epic miss. The director of … Continue reading →