California Schemin’ (2026)
Gettin’ high livin’ the lie in fun ‘Schemin” The music industry is littered with scammers, from infamous lip-syncers Milli Vanilli and Ashley Simpson to a multitude of manufactured A.I. acts, to the most daring subterfuge of all: Silibil N’ Brains. What separates the latter from the rest is that Billy “Silibil” Boyd and Gavin […]
Animals (2026)
Don’t allow ‘Animals’ to take you hostage Ben Affleck has no excuses for the sacrilege that is his Netflix kidnap thriller “Animals.” He serves as its director, co-writer, producer and star, and fails at all in a foolhardy stab at updating Akira Kirasawa’s masterful “High and Low.” The very same classic Spike Lee recently […]
Angel and the Badman (2026)
Resurrected ‘Angel’ isn’t bad, just bland The Word is mightier than the gun in the latest remake of the John Wayne parable “Angel and the Badman.” But the sanctity of the text falls short of salvation for this Angel Studios adaptation of James Edward Grant’s 1947 original about a devout Christian woman “saving” a […]
Ghost in the Cell (2026)
You’ll want to get locked up with ‘Ghost’ I say with utmost confidence that you’ve never seen a movie as unique as Joko Anwar’s “Ghost in the Cell.” You name it, you’ve got it in this genre-melding tale in which hardened prisoners eagerly partake in interpretive dance, name-drop Kierkegaard, unearth political corruption, battle powerful […]
The Scout (2025)
Searching for self, place in ‘The Scout’ When strangers learn I’m a film critic, they invariably respond with, “Wow, must be cool to watch movies all day.”And I often politely reply, “Yes, it is,” while thinking, “If they only knew,” which, I guess, makes me a kindred spirit of Sofia, the protagonist in writer-director […]
You Had to Be There (2025)
You’ll want to be at ‘You Had to Be There’ Dozens of productions of “Godspell” have been staged over the decades, but only one seems to have been officially blessed by the Big Guy himself. That would be the 1972 Toronto version in which a dozen soon-to-be comedy legends established the genesis of what […]
The Incomer (2026)
Endearing ‘Incomer’ Is Island Onto Itself The goings-on in Louis Paxton’s debut feature, “The Incomer,” are as absurd as they are charming, telling the tale of feral, island-bound siblings who’ve never had contact with the “real” world. Well, not until a mild-mannered chap from the home office arrives on their craggy, wind-swept shore bearing […]
Unabomber (2026)
Netflix’s ‘Unabomber’ chronicle is a dud An intriguing story exists deep within the Netflix production of “Unabomber.” But director Janus Metz never quite discovers it, resorting instead to tired police-procedural tropes and the dimmest dime-store psychology. In its favor is a solid turn by Russell Crowe as disgraced Harvard psychology professor Henry Murray, […]
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! (2026)
‘Shake Your Booty!’ dances into your heart Quirky doesn’t begin to describe “Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!” It’s a comedy centered around a grief-stricken Tokyo widow trapped in a purgatory of her own design, one where joy and sorrow coexist alongside sexual longing. It features elaborate Bollywood-esque dance numbers interspersed among wacky flights of fancy, […]
Charlie Harper (2025)
Broken hearts at core of ‘Charlie Harper’ At first, the intent of the romantic drama “Charlie Harper” seems confusing, jumbling time and place almost to the point of distraction. Even the title is misleading. It does not refer to one person, but to the first names of the couple involved in what we know […]