“‘Bombshell’ Is An Oversanitized Mess — And A Missed Opportunity”

There are only so many ways that I, personally, can imagine screwing this movie up, and Jay Roach screws it up in all those ways plus others. Continue reading →

“The Legend of Tarzan’s Hashtag Problem”

…annnnnd here’s “part two” of my attempt at getting to the core of why The Legend of Tarzan is such a failure and such an embarrassment as a modern studio blockbuster. How do you make a racist novel written in bygone times un-racist? Can you? Is it worth the effort to try? And is trying in and of … Continue reading →

Review: The Legend of Tarzan, 2016, dir. David Yates

I sure have written a lot of words about WB’s The Legend of Tarzan considering how much I hate it. But then, maybe “hate” is a strong word. Maybe it’s the wrong word. The Legend of Tarzan isn’t a good movie by any stretch of the means, but I think I have to classify my response to it as … Continue reading →

Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, 2016, dir. Glenn Ficarra & John Requa

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot has a Tina Fey problem, but then again, Tina Fey’s movie career has a Tina Fey problem. How is it this hard to figure out how best to transition Fey’s multi-pronged TV persona into multiplex success? Maybe it’s worth looking at Fey’s big-screen choices before we look at her as an actress: movies like Date Night … Continue reading →

Review: Focus, 2015, dir. Glenn Ficarra & John Requa

“Back in 2009, dynamic filmmaking duo Glenn Ficarra and John Requa made their directorial debut with I Love You Phillip Morris, a romantic comedy based on the “true” story of veteran swindler Steven Jay Russell. They followed that effort two years later with Crazy, Stupid, Love, which traded heist antics for the bland conventionality of … Continue reading →