It is a reunion of sorts for those connected to the witless cop caper Spenser Confidential. First, the film’s star, Mark Wahlberg, returns home to his beloved Boston as the famed native son struts his reckless stuff around Beantown. Second, the film’s director, Peter Berg, reunites with Wahlberg, his “Mile 22,” “Patriots Games,” “Deepwater Horizon,”…
Standing Up, Falling Down fleshes out a narrative that’s been done before, and frankly, it feels like a story that’s a little outdated and a little played out. Scott (Ben Schwartz, “Blue Iguana”) returns home after striking out as a comedian, having to hit the restart button and figure out his life. He meets Marty…
It does feel that the romantic comedy is becoming a lost art. Big movie studios no longer want to invest in it, and if we think back to the biggest one of 2019, it was the movie “Long Shot” starring the odd coupling of Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen. And while it was good and…
Latest on the slate from Blumhouse Productions — known for their mostly neutered horror flicks (“Unfriended: Dark Web,” “Truth or Dare,” “Happy Death Day,” to name a few of the more recent ones) — is Fantasy Island, a retooling of a campy, Aaron Spelling produced television show. And much like that late 70s to early…
There’s only one movie in theaters this holiday season where you can see tap, ballet, hip-hop, and other dance styles performed by CGI cat-people (or are they people-cats?) and you can bet it’s not the latest Star Wars movie. It’s also not exactly good, at least in the way that nearly everyone who watches movies…
A franchise’s future often lies in its past. The narrative need to look back upon the legacy of a series starter and the history of its characters provides a clear entry point for many sequels that may otherwise struggle to justify their existence beyond merely financial reasons. It’s a strategy used to moving effect in…
“Be me, then be yourself,” so says Chuck Knoach (Ben Lloyd-Hughes, “Me Before You”), a best-selling self-help guru who has an avid fan in Lou (Katy Brayben, “Luther” TV series) a 30-something woman with a dead-end job and a suffocating mother (Sarah Ball, “Doctors” TV series) for a housemate. As we see her enjoying rare…
