This week brings a pair of first rate action thrillers from the mind of Luc Besson, a creative force in French cinema who makes a much better writer-producer than he does a director. District b13 …

Wallace Shawn’s first Woody Allen film was also his first screen appearance. His cameo in Manhattan amounted to little more than a brilliant punchline. One doesn’t easily associate the terms “oversexed” and “brilliant kind of …

The definition of insanity is watching another sequel with “Kong” and/or “Godzilla” in its title and expecting different results. Godzilla vs. Kong is a risk-free retread of Jurassic proportions. Kong still calls Skull Island his …

Confession is good for the soul: campy sci-fi has never been my bag, particularly when it comes bearing the stamp of network TV. Having never made it all the way through an episode of Star …

Almost 60 years after my babysitter let me stay up to watch it, I finally paid a return visit to the seedy underbelly of life on Chicago’s skid row, Let No Man Write My Epitaph. …

With Yes Day, the team that brought you Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day once again proves that when it comes to entertaining families (and single guys in their sixties), director …

Hold That Lion is legendary among Stooge disciples as the only time Shemp and Curly appear on screen together. It is also Curly’s swan song. Hold That Lion (1947) By this time, doctor’s orders had …

There are still a few days left to partake in this year’s San Diego Latino Film Festival. For a complete list of titles, visit http sdlatinofilm.com. In the meantime, here are two worth watching. La …

The 28th annual San Diego Latino Film Festival runs March 11-21 both virtually and at a drive-in near you. (The South Bay Drive-in and Westfield Mission Valley.) For a complete list of times and titles, …

‘This is a true story.” The presence of this disclaimer (or a reasonable variation thereof) at the outset of a picture suggests a license to speak truth to power. But a corking yarn without a …

Felt like making a return revisit to an old Scorsese friend and booked passage on a boat trip to Shutter Island, the film that asks the musical question, “Baby, why are you all wet?” Shutter …

There is so much fact-fudging going on in The United States vs. Billie Holiday that for all the good it did screenwriter Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, she could …

It had been 50 years since Billy and I last met. To say that time had been unkind would be an understatement. Billy Jack (1971) Jean Roberts’ (pseudonymous co-writer and Mrs. Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor) …

What must breakfast be like at the home of married co-workers Milla Jovovich and Paul W. S. Anderson? “Remember back a decade ago, when I first entertained adapting Monster Hunter for the screen?” Paul asks. …

When people point up gaping holes in my film viewing history, I generally counter with, “I have to save something for my deathbed.” Seeing how I’m closer to the end than I am to the …

From the look of things, Mark (Kyle Allen) is definitely a morning person. He impresses both his dad and younger sis by tending to every item on his breakfast menu with the skill and grace …

Before reviewing the current remake, the purist in me thought it wise to first examine the original feature of the same name. (It’s available on YouTube.) I suggest you do the same. The Queen of …

It was the greatest love story never told. For decades, Nina (Barbara Sukowa) and Mado (Martine Chevallier) have lived a romance in the shadows, on the same floor, in opposite apartments. Nobody knew. Not the …

What do this week’s films have in common? Both were found in Chula Vista, on the shelves of the Deseret Thrift Store, waiting patiently for me to take them home. The Wrecking Crew (2008) “What …

Another week, another film festival — this time, the 31st Annual San Diego International Jewish Film Festival, which runs February 11-21. For a complete lineup of features and virtual discussion groups, visit www.lfjcc.org/cjc/sdijff.aspx. Here are …

This week, zombie pets and dynamite Vietnam vets combine for a pair of hilarious late-2000s parodies. Fido (2007) For a seemingly limited genre, it’s amazing how many great zombie pictures have risen up and shambled …

The Museum of Photographic Arts once again hosts the annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival, which, for the first time in its 11-year history, screens virtually and therefore all across the United States. The lineup …

It’s a tradition in excellence that dates back to when I was 9-years-old and first introduced to the Marx Bros. The local ABC-TV affiliate in Chicago would devote their Saturday night late-to-pre-dawn slot to Paramount …

The press release hyped him as “one of the most versatile talents in Hollywood.” The late Danny Aiello dubbed him a “five tool guy” capable of singing, acting, performing, writing, and fighting “like a sonofabitch.” …

Somewhere, Joan Rivers is rolling in her grave. While on her way to becoming a household name in 1973, the comedian conceived the story of (and along with Agnes Gallin, co-scripted the teleplay for) a …

Since outdoor activities seem to pose little threat, why not throw a picnic? I’ll bring the ants. Them! (1954) The opening scene packs a horrifying wallop not generally associated with monster movies from the ‘50s. …

To paraphrase critic Molly Haskell, Audrey Hepburn awakened love in all who watched her. Why it took this long for someone to make a feature-length documentary about one of the world’s most adored and influential …

I like it better when the special-effects wizards have to leave their chairs in order to make a movie. Seated before a bank of computer screens and presented with a budget of $200 million for …

Out with the new and in with the old with this trio of diverse films that all take place on or around New Year’s Day. La Bonne Annee (1973) The clip from director Claude Lelouch’s …

If you are worried and you can’t sleep, watch White Christmas instead of counting sheep. Works faster than a right hook with a bottle of Ambien clutched in its fist. — Scott Marks White Christmas …

The story behind The Christmas Chronicles is so simple, so glaringly obvious and filled with delight, that it’s a wonder no one thought of it until this day: a pair of siblings surreptitiously hop aboard …

Not yet in the holiday spirit? Here’s a trio of yuletide-themed cartoons from the 1930s certain to provide a much-needed Christmas goose. Santa’s Workshop (1932) In my teens, my friend Timothy Murphy asked me, “You …

The Hemlock Society's monthly “Right to Die Film Series'' isn't going to let a pandemic keep it down. The group’s next meeting will be held virtually on December 20 with SOD (Suicide on Demand) as …

Thespian rhymes with lesbian. Ain’t that a hoot? Seldom has confronting homophobia head on appeared more proudly patronizing or signaled less pleasure than here. It would be one thing were The Prom a satire warning …

This week we go West, Mae West, for a pair of saucy comedies: one’s pre-code, the other isn’t. She Done Him Wrong (1933) Across town at 20th Century Fox, it was child superstar Shirley Temple …

No matter how lofty one’s stature as an artist or how impeccable one’s list of accomplishments, there will always be someone out there sporting a pair of steel-toed loafers for the soul (and sole) purpose …

Jack Webb was many things — director, actor, writer, gun-lover, John Bircher, recording artist, ultra-right-wing Viet Cong-hating fascist, two-fisted drinker, producer, chain smoker — but first and foremost, he was an auteur. His could be …

How would we have survived this far into a pandemic without the ever-present Bella Thorne there to help take the edge off? In the third of four 2020 releases reviewed in these pages — the …

How about a hilarious helping of Cold Turkey for Thanksgiving? Cold Turkey (1971) Looking to combat bad publicity with good, Big Tobacco offers $25 million to the one American town that can collectively kick the …

John Belushi could milk more laughter with a slight shift of the eyebrow than most comedians can with a pratfall. He transformed slobbery into an art form, and sewed danger into the heart of each …

This week’s picks are meant to get us through this transitional period. Bartleby (1970) With all the movies in my mental Rolodex, surely there’s one tale of a lead character who refuses to budge even …

It became a staple of the early, funny Jackie Chan pictures: the cutaway to a Chief of Police looking on in disbelief — generally through a windshield or office glass partition — as our hero …

What do this week’s film have in common? A diverse trio of gay men with flavorful stories to tell. Capote (2005) There was something about the back page New York Times article detailing four grisly …

Unlike David Fincher’s satirically-muscular predecessor, director Paul Leyden and screenwriter Joseph Downey discourage use of the term “fight club,” choosing instead to liken their underground all-female boxing arena to a safehouse, a refuge where women …

Tsui Hark is one of world cinema’s exemplars of action. One can learn more about editing from five minutes of Hark than all the Bourne duds combined. Once in my care, it was just a …

The 14th annual German Currents Film Festival will this year be held virtually in your living room from November 9-15. Below are reviews of three pretty terrific offerings, all seen through the eyes of women, …

Keeping in the spirit of Borat’s return, here are a few words about his debut feature. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2005) Remember when enlightened comedy meant playing …

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the sequel we prayed for but never dreamed possible, is now a reality. It’s been 14 years since Sacha Baron Cohen’s signature character made his big screen debut. In no time, the …

We may not recall the first time we laughed or cried at a movie, but who doesn’t remember the first time they got well and truly scared in a theatre? Here are a trio of …

Before going to work, Carlos Spector, one of the central figures in writer-director Marcela Arteaga’s The Guardian of Memory, feeds the gathering of birds that every morning congregates outside his door. He calls it his …