Reviews

This adventure fantasy from Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer) can’t shake off the cobwebs to be successfully spirited away in the Renaissance.  An Uber producer of adolescent media can’t dust off an adaptation of “The Moon and the Sun” by Vonda N. McIntyre even with noteworthy visuals, designing and a cast led by Pierce Brosnan (The […]

Not without a little sputtering here and there, it’s hard to quibble with this vivid Japanese anime from Mamoru Hosoda.  Belle (In subtitled and dubbed versions) works off a notable fairy tale with cunning and heart in a slightly futuristic setting.  Traversing social media moves and personal anguish in disparate realities has the milieu of […]

Not as fresh as hoped is this fifth installment of a ‘meta’ horror franchise begun by the late horror maestro Wes Craven. Now, Scream is back to entertain as it moves from internet celebrity to topic fan skewering under the guidance of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.  They can’t make this reboot sequel very memorable […]

Tyro director and writer Maggie Gyllenhaal isn’t afraid to showcase maternal angst with its share of frantic, intemperate interludes.  The actress of films like Sherrybaby and Secretary besides The Dark Knight and Mona Lisa Smiles centers on a divorced professor vacationing on Greek isle Spetses in The Lost Daughter.  It doesn’t seem like her first […]

A stylish, theatrical version of classic Shakespeare might be marred a little by its sound design.  But The Tragedy of Macbeth is often a visually, expressionistic marvel with noteworthy leads portrayed by Oscar-winning actors Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.  An efficiently venal way through humanity exudes noir in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth.  With […]