September 3, 2017

A Simple Plan

This is one of those “What would you do?” movies (another example would be Indecent Proposal, though this one is vastly superior). You know the setup: a group of seemingly simple and moral individuals are confronted with a pot of gold/pile of money/Pandora’s Box…choose your temptation, and must make a fateful decision that will test their characters. Of course, things do not go as planned, as they tend not to do in movies like this.
August 22, 2017

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death

This low-key quickie hearkens back to a sort of golden age for low-budget chillers. While not as gruesome as some of its contemporaries (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes), this film makes tremendous use of its spooky old house and outdoor locations. Despite a horrendous title, Let’s Scare Jessica To Death is an effective little creeper: high on atmosphere and long on style.
October 17, 2016

Elle

Paul Verhoeven’s first feature in 10 years is a complex work. The director of “Basic Instinct” and “Showgirls” is in fine form stylistically, yet provides much more depth of meaning into this piece than we’ve seen in his previous films as he examines the aftermath of a brutal assault. “Elle” is definitely not for everyone (like most of Verhoeven’s films) and will likely not sit well with those moviegoers who lean more towards the politically correct. However, for those of us who have admired the director’s work in the past and understand his general approach to cinema, there is much to recommend here.
July 24, 2016

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie

This movie is a love letter to the fans, plain and simple. While it is possible to enjoy the madness as an “Ab Fab” virgin, the experience will be greatly heightened if you have followed the misadventures of Patsy and Eddie for at least some of their (non-consecutive) seven-year run on television.
April 30, 2016

King Cobra

A movie as salacious and lurid as the story it’s telling, “King Cobra” has its flaws, but is generally an effective, lean, and very mean piece of “ripped-from-the-headlines” cinema. Boasting a cast including James Franco, Molly Ringwald, Alicia Silverstone, Keegan Allen, a hasn’t-been-this-good-in-years Christian Slater, and former teenybopper Garrett Clayton, ejecting himself from tweendom straight into the tighty-whities of grown-up films, “King Cobra” offers a stylish though straightforward, yet not uncompelling, dramatization of this tawdry tale of murder and sex.
April 11, 2016

Marjoe

It might be tempting to call Marjoe Gortner a con man. He was a noted evangelist in the days before Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, “saving” people in exchange for them forking over money to his ministry, money that sometimes people couldn’t really afford to give. He moved from town to town like a one-man travelling sideshow, preaching the gospel of Jesus to those willing and needing to believe it. He was a consummate showman. The interesting thing is, even he would agree with that.
June 21, 2014

Compared to What: The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank

Controversial. Witty. Acerbic. Straightforward. No bullshit. These are all words that can describe the former US Congressman from Massachusetts, Barney Frank. His voyage from local politician to the national stage is documented in Sheila Canavan and Michael Chandler’s “Compared to What: The Improbably Journey of Barney Frank,” which screened last night at the 16th Annual Provincetown Film Festival.
December 26, 2013

The Wolf of Wall Street

    The Wolf of Wall Street Release Date: December 25, 2013 Runtime: 180 minutes Rating: very, very R Studio: Paramount Pictures Director: Martin Scorsese Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio; Jonah Hill; Matthew McConaughey; Margot Robbie; Rob Reiner; Kyle Chandler; Jon Bernthal; Jean Dujardin; Joanna Lumley; Ethan Suplee     Jordan Belfort’s […]
December 13, 2013

The Cutting Edge

    The Cutting Edge Release Date: March 27, 1992 Runtime: 101 minutes Rating: PG Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Director: Paul Michael Glaser Cast: D.B. Sweeney; Moira Kelly; Roy Dotrice; Terry O’Quinn; Dwier Brown     Ask anyone. I’m a sucker for any movie that ends with the lovers kissing, the music […]
June 23, 2013

Lovelace

Screened at the Provincetown International Film Festival – June 22, 2013     Lovelace Release Date: January 22, 2013 (Sundance Film Festival) Runtime: 92 minutes Rating: R Studio: RADiUS – TWC Director: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman Cast: Amanda Seyfried; Peter Sarsgaard; Sharon Stone; Chris Noth; Hank Azaria; Robert Patrick; Bobby Cannavale; Eric […]