In THE NIGHT HOUSE, star/producer Rebecca Hall dares to give us a female protagonist who does not ask us to like her. In fact, she all but dares us not to. Yet, in a brilliant performance that combines pain and vitriol, she makes us empathize with a new widow who may or may not be… Read More »
GODZILLA VS. KONG
If there were special awards for truth in advertising when it comes to movie titles, GODZILLA VS. KONG would sweep them. Essentially, that is all there is to this extravagant spree of special effects and occasional camp. The plot, and there is a great deal of it, is completely subservient to upping the ante when… Read More »
HOLMES AND WATSON
One comes away from HOLMES AND WATSON bemused. The stunning lack of entertainment value in a film starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly is almost a body blow, such is its unremitting ineptitude. Using as its premise the same spoofery done much better by the Wayans Brothers in their series of SCARY MOVIE riffs,… Read More »
AWAKENING, THE
THE AWAKENING is a superbly crafted film, and for films of this ilk, execution is everything. The ilk is a horror story, the premise is an investigator (Rebecca Hall) determined to debunk fake mediums and ersatz hauntings. Its 1921 and London, like so many other places that have survived both World War I and the… Read More »
CLOSED CIRCUIT
CLOSED CIRCUIT is a big, goofy simulacrum of a political thriller. There are all the key scenes. There are the requisite sotto voiced pronouncements with an eyebrow arched, well, archly. There are people running for their lives through dark streets at ungodly hours. There are double-, triple-, and quite possibly a quadruple-cross. And why that… Read More »