The new crime drama “Blood on Her Name” may best be summed up thusly: The sins of the father are visited upon the daughter and then splattered upon the son. And it’s not lookin’ too good for the pattern to end with a miserably misguided kid in this stark and … [Read More]
Life is sorely lacking if not to like something from the legendary music catalog of Motown Records. For those not hip to the hit-generating machine founded in 1958 and then paternally powered by pop and soul icons Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson (who co-anchor here), you owe it to yourself … [Read More]
The new domestic drama “Standing Up, Falling Down” features the great Billy Crystal in perhaps his most affecting acting performance. Though tough to sympathize with him based upon past conduct with his family, Crystal’s deeply flawed character Marty is nonetheless a likable and charming chap. Still, his consistent revelations of … [Read More]
There is a lot to unpack in the new Norwegian television crime drama “Twin” streaming now on MHz Choice. Uff da is there ever. Each installment of this entrancing eight-part series is jam-packed with more secrets, lies and diabolical deception than you can shake a krumkake at. (You Norwegians in … [Read More]
The darkly comic, Oscar winning South Korean tale of the haves and the have nots “Parasite” is at once laugh-out-loud funny, ludicrous, lamentable and lacerating. Make that last adjective both lyrical and literal. Acclaimed Writer/Director Bong Joon-ho introduces us to a downtrodden clan of ne’er do-wells and con artists … [Read More]
I wasn’t sure where the new Swedish short “Alive” would take me. Not at any point was I confident how this well done tale of a disabled woman and her caregiver was ultimately going to wind up. Until, that is, the scene toward the story’s denouement when one of the … [Read More]
I like Justin Long. I have since I first became aware of him as an actor in the quirky NBC TV dramedy, “Ed”. Long stars in the new drugamedy (yeah, that’s now a thing ;]), “The Wave”. Talk about your flick that can not decide what it wants to be. … [Read More]
“Mountaintop” (2019): Rock and Roll Can Never Die Neil Young is a rock and folk music icon. He is still bringin’ it with unabashed sass and searing soul over fifty years into a legendary career. Vital music. Thoughtful music. Kick ass music. The seasoned rocker comes off a little like … [Read More]
“Scooter”: A most Unctuous & Unwelcome Return to the Found Footage Fad So you thought Found Footage Flicks had long since come and gone, didja? Oh, think again, my friend. The new alleged thriller “Scooter” has rolled onto the scene. And thank God it will soon be going down in … [Read More]
This is an especially well acted film. Khalil McMillan delivers a piercing performance in “What Death Leaves Behind” as a troubled husband and father whose life is torn apart after undergoing an organ transplant. Scott A. Hamilton does a superb job of directing a roundly impressive cast, among them veteran … [Read More]
If you fancy a flick about a homeless chick living in a compact car parked along a curb on a neighborhood street who falls in love with a guy who lives on the block who falls in love with her back……if that’s what you’re yearning for, then the new quirky … [Read More]
You could call the mind scrambling new film “States” a kind of “Easy Rider” for the millennial generation. But even that wouldn’t do full justice to the wonder and weirdness this movie’s mastermind, Zach Gayne, has cooked up and served to us on a multi-textured platter sizzling with searching souls, … [Read More]