Asleep in My Palm (2024)
‘Asleep’ grabs hold with a full-Nelson approach It would be easy to dismiss the scattershot “Asleep in My Palm” as a product of nepotism. But there’s more than a trace of talent showcased in Henry Nelson’s debut feature about a father and daughter living off the grid. Still, it’s doubtful that the dramedy would exist […]
Air Force One Down (2024)
Katerine McNamara in “Air Force One Down.” Idiotic ‘Down’ is just ‘plane’ awful In unleashing one of the dumbest movies in a while, director James Bamford’s “Air Force One Down” counters the current presidential field by introducing a young, virile POTUS (Ian Bohen) able almost single-handedly to quash an Astovian uprising. I say “almost” because […]
Float (2024)
Soggy ‘Float’ doesn’t offer much Bang for buck If you’re searching for the perfect Valentine’s Day movie, “Float” ain’t it. It’s actually not much of anything, beyond a pleasing showcase for Andrea Bang (“Luce”) as Waverly, an overtaxed med student seeking asylum from an impending residency and her cloying parents. She finds said refuge with […]
Robert Eggers (2015)
Eggers conjures a cult hit with ‘The Witch’ Great things have been happening to Robert Eggers since the New Hampshire native won the top directing prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival for his Puritan horror tale, “The Witch.” But it might not have ever happened if it weren’t for the folks at Plimoth Plantation, […]
Octavia Spencer/Tate Taylor
A little ‘Help’ from their friendships When they met 16 years ago as production assistants on Joel Schumacher’s “A Time to Kill,” Tate Taylor and Octavia Spencer had no idea they were sowing the seeds for a symbiotic friendship that would one day put both in the thick of the Oscar race. Still, it took a fortuitous contribution from a third member of […]
Tom McCarthy
Versatile McCarthy isn’t sinister, he just acts like it You might not recognize the name, but you’ll certainly recognize the face of Tom McCarthy, the much-sought-after character actor whose boyishly handsome face belies his often sinister roles.Name a crime, and there’s a good chance that one of McCarthy’s array of miscreants has committed it. Let’s […]
Paul Giamatti (2011)
Giamatti went from Pig Vomit to an awards darling Paul Giamatti has been landing movie and TV gigs for more than two decades, mostly in supporting roles. But it wasn’t until he played Pig Vomit, Howard Stern’s conniving, tantrum-prone boss in “Private Parts” (1997), that people started noticing the pudgy, far-from-handsome actor. A few years […]
Emma Stone (2011)
Busy Stone is taking world by storm Like her native Phoenix, Emma Stone is sizzling hot. You might even go so far as to say that there is no escaping her. Just look at the past four weeks. During that small crease in time, she’s stolen movies from under the heels of Ryan Gosling (“Crazy, […]
Julie Delpy (2012)
Once again, the multi-talented Delpy does it all One of the most pleasant movie surprises of 2007 was Julie Delpy’s “2 Days in Paris,” a sweet – and sardonic – look at love, jealousy and the hazards of introducing your cynical American boyfriend to your eccentric French parents. Not only was the film a riot, […]
Elizabeth Banks (2012)
Banks admits being shaky about getting high She’s played first lady Laura Bush, enticed a 40-year-old virgin and flirted with amateur porn stardom, but never has Elizabeth Banks’ career reached the heights of “Man on a Ledge.” It’s a tall story about being 22 stories up, precariously perched on a 14-inch sill outside New York’s […]