The most interesting aspect of the new comedy Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break is its unwieldy title, an attention-grabber that promises a rollicking good time…
City of Lies is deeply trite in its messaging, but given its prolonged stay on the shelf, isn’t as bad as you might expect. Arriving nearly…
As an inadvertent result of the world’s continued struggle against COVID-19, writer-director Martin Edralin’s Canadian family drama Islands evinces an unexpected form of empathy; with…
The Courier doesn’t rank among the spy film greats and misunderstands its own core, but it’s a diverting enough shadows-and-cigarettes throwback. The Dad Movie of 2021…
Episode Description: This week, a weekend trip to Myrtle Beach will change the lives of four best friends forever in 1989’s Shag, directed by Zelda…
For better or worse, Yes Day is essentially what you expect it to be: a sweet, sitcom-styled family comedy. The new Netflix family comedy Yes…
Come True is an empty-headed, poorly-conceived horror flick that mistakes endless stylistic detail for substance. Anyone who has ever experienced night terrors can attest to the…
Author/chef/attorney/entrepreneur Eddie Huang adds a few more bullets to his CV as writer and director of coming-of-age drama Boogie, the tale of a Chinese-American high…
Lucky is a surprisingly substantive film, particularly given its slight runtime, but suffers from spoon-feeding viewers its messaging. A masked man breaks into the home of…
Episode Description: This week, nuclear war meets teen comedy as we take on 1986’s ill-conceived The Manhattan Project, directed by Marshall Brickman. Christopher Collet stars…
Crisis is an overblown and unfocused bit of pap that fails dramatically, intellectually, and rhetorically. Armie Hammer’s very public current controversies are probably the only reason…
The Mimic is nothing more than an maddening ego flex that is far too confident in its own “brilliance.” The Mimic, from writer-director Thomas F. Mazziotti,…
Burn It All is a bona fide bit of exploitation trash, legitimately awful but enthralling in its sheer ineptitude. Contrary to popular belief, exploitation films are…
Young Hearts is a sweet but ultimately very slight bit of decade-late lite-mumblecore cinema. Sarah and Zachary Ray Sherman‘s young love story Young Hearts (formerly titled Thunderbolt in Mine…
Blithe Spirit’s attempts at screwball comedy land with a dull, well-costumed thud. Mounting another film adaptation of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit isn’t a heretical act;…
I Care a Lot is largely founded on cheap rhetoric, a film that hints at interesting ideas but which ultimately pulls its punches. Those searching for…
Episode Description: This week, Summer Blockbuster!?! celebrates Valentine’s Day by taking on one of the least romantic romances ever filmed: 1986’s Under the Cherry Moon,…
Music is a generic, offensive slog that co-opts ASD in service of bland musical pomp and an imbalanced plot. Pop songstress Sia titling her directorial debut…
Barb and Star plays to Wiig’s most overindulgent and weirdo instincts, failing to strike the balance of her best comedic work. The career path forged by…
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is yet another time loop flick that fails to do anything to energize its exhausted conceit. Note to Hollywood: No…