I like romantic comedies. I genuinely do. They have been around since practically the beginning of movies. In fact I cut my classic cinema teeth on several early rom-coms including “Bringing Up Baby”, “The Philadelphia Story”, and “It Happened One Night”. But over the last few years romantic comedies have arguably become the most frustrating … Continue reading
REVIEW: “The Quarry” (2020)
When the South by Southwest film festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic a lot of movies missed their planned world premieres. One was “The Quarry”, a mystery thriller from director and co-writer Scott Teems. His last dramatic feature was the terrific “That Evening Shade” way back in 2009. His latest sees him back in … Continue reading
First Glance: “Capone”
Talk about a movie that instantly had me in its corner! I’m a bit of a sucker for period gangster stories and have read countless books about the Mafia’s heyday in America. Among those were some great biographies of the notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone. So naturally a movie titled “Capone” is gonna catch my … Continue reading
REVIEW: “The Roads Not Taken” (2020)
For filmmaker Sally Potter her new movie “The Roads Not Taken” came from an intensely personal place. Her brother, musician Nic Potter, died in 2013 following a two year battle with young onset dementia. She pulled from her own emotional experiences caring for him mixed with what she describes as a “preoccupation with the nature … Continue reading
RETRO REVIEW: “Tremors” (1990)
Imagine a movie that opens with Kevin Bacon standing on a ledge and peeing into a vast Nevada canyon. Inspiring, right? Yet it’s an opening that strangely fits “Tremors”, a goofy creature-feature comedy that barely made a dent in the box office back in 1990, but went on to earn a pretty big cult following … Continue reading
REVIEW: “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”
Immediately after World War II the scars of German occupation ran deep across many European lands. One such place was the island of Guernsey, sitting in the English Channel just off the coast of Normandy. During the occupation many residents were taken and shipped to Nazi labor camps never to return while their families tried … Continue reading