Peru 1988. Under the credits, newspaper headlines and file photos summarize the situation: a government at war against ruthless guerilla forces. Georgina (Pamela Mendoza) can be heard faintly in the distance, singing the song without …
Three variations on a cops-and-robbers theme from the early ‘70s The Super Cops (1974) Released three months after Serpico, Gordon Parks’ film followed a pair of successful Shaft scores with this real-life account of two …
In ancient times, they might have called First Cow, an allegorical tale of two culturally discordant cowpokes who join forces to carve out a culinary slice of the American dream, “Figowitz and the Chinaman” and …
Every now and then, a critic has occasion to treat a film that demands special treatment. The recent passing of Carl Reiner has provided just such an occasion. Where’s Poppa? (1970) When Robert Klane set …
What’s A Nice Girl Like You doing in a lead review spot like this? Happy accidents happen. Were it not for my stringent self passing on a screener with a disclaimer branded across the bottom …
La Mesa’s very own Reanimated Records was open, but only for curbside pickup. Owner Nic Friesen was a beautiful enough person to forward a photoset of recent acquisitions. What follows are but three jewels among …
There are those whose knowledge of Kaye Ballard is limited to the caricatured screaming Italian she playing opposite demure Eve Arden on TV’s The Mothers-In-Law. Ballard’s ball-shaped eyes, radiating angst from beneath a perfectly manicured …
This week, it’s Albert Brooks’ first and (hopefully not) last, plus a bit of Sinatra propaganda. Albert Brooks Famous School for Comedians (1972) Omnibus television at its finest, The Great American Dream Machine was a …
Other than an innate ability to turn heads with each passing performance, what do Montgomery Clift, Alan Arkin, Alec Guinness, Bud Cort, and Viggo Mortensen share in common? At a given moment in each man’s …
Do you miss the prospects of a football-free 2020? Not me, especially with this trio of celluloid scores to spike in celebration. Easy Living (1949) Jacques Tourneur had never seen a football game when RKO …
For decades, Fabienne Dangeville has been the face of French culture (and haute couture). Considered by many to be one of history’s most celebrated beauties (and Europe’s greatest actress), the icy blonde was set to …
Finding this week’s selections was as easy as giving the old external harddrive a spin. There, nestled alphabetically in the “W”s, were a trio of “Wakes,” all new to me. There’s one to dream, one …
In one seemingly simple sentence, musician Laura Mvula concisely sums up the everlasting appeal of Ella Fitzgerald: “She made it seem like anything is possible.” (It’s likely that at one point or another, generally in …
Spinning ‘round the turn comes this week’s sure-bet trifecta, a trio of thoroughbred friendships of the unforgettable teenage girl variety. The World of Henry Orient (1964) While strolling through Central Park one day, Val (Tippy …
When Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo first began shopping their sprawling story of a Vietnam treasure hunt around the studios, it was conceived with four white veterans in mind. IMDB reports that Lloyd Levin, producer …
It’s been almost four decades since Romy Schneider’s career was cut short by cardiac arrest at the unripe age of 43. Schneider made her acting debut when she was 15, and during her time spent …
The real Scott Davidson, Pete’s father, was a New York firefighter and first-responder who died in 2001 when the World Trade Center collapsed around him. Anyone familiar with his son’s Comedy Central appearances knows how …
When the lockdown first caught hold, I pinky-promised myself not to devote column space to movies focused on quarantines, vaccines, epidemics, or violently insane world leaders who suggest injecting household chemicals as a cure for …
At the same time many Americans are clamoring to get back to work, here comes a film about a man who refuses to be ousted from his job. Work gives us purpose; our jobs help …
I have a hood on my back. No sooner do I finish Capone, Hollywood’s latest footnote to the legacy of the Prohibition-era crime lord, than our trustworthy friend Jon over at Rarefilmm.com posts what is …
“What’s with all the movies?” was one of my father’s pet questions. “Don’t you ever read a book?” (This coming from a man who never cracked a spine in his life.) Years later, Dad’s counsel …
Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett collaborated on fourteen pictures together before going their separate artistic ways in 1951. (Wilder went on to have an equally fertile collaboration with I.A.L. Diamond with whom he shared screenwriter’s …
You know Muni and Robards and Rico Bandello/ Steiger and Gazzara and Dame Judith who was no fellow/ But does Tom Hardy present a compelling scumball/ or is Capone yet another long haul?/ Così cosà. …
A trio of ‘70s action flicks for your amusement, led by Gene Hackman, Walter Matthau, and... Whit Bissell? French Connection II (1975) The porkpie hat is as unmistakably American as the beret is French. And …
Brandon Cronenberg’s second feature will no doubt confirm those nasty rumors that daddy David set his son on the road to dreamland every night with Videodrome projected on the nursery wall opposite the baby’s crib. …
This week’s triad features a tangy-as-always James Cagney starring in three comedies under the direction of Warner Brothers’ swift-footed Lloyd Bacon. Picture Snatcher (1933) In his column in the January 21, 1933 edition of Editor …
We open on a note of anticipatory anxiety: an offscreen voice awakens Karen (Otmara Marrero). Soft tones profess, “You’re beautiful,” followed by, “You’re gonna break my heart.” Other than an eager exchange with a pooch …
There Is One God "The equality of all people and all religions is central to our faith. We didn't want to seem as though we were saying, 'No! We're not Muslims! Don't attack us! Those …
For Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who told Fox News that older Americans should sacrifice their lives for the good of the economy, we offer up a handful of ass-kicking seniors, led by pandemic paraclete …
When a sock to the chin connects in a Jim Thomspon novel, it does so with such force that you’ll be reaching to condole your jaw. A quick turn of the page, and the stench …
The first installment of the three part documentary feature Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All-Time premiered on numerous VOD platforms this week. Here are three essential exploitation epics for further research. Pink Flamingos …
Two months’ worth of bi-weekly trips to the multiplex yielded at least a dozen opportunities to memorize the trailer for My Spy. Originally slated for a mid-March opening, it was the next film on the …
Theft, drugs, and bad romance drive this week’s trio of tales. The Whistlers (2019) Birds warble in the background as career detective Cristi (Vlad Ivanov) pulls up to Gilda’s (Catrinel Marlon) house. Or do they? …
Before making it my home, San Diego was an annual vacation destination for 15 years. “1995” was written across the spine of the TDK-HS video cassette, but the exact date of this joyride is unsure. …
This week, we’ve got metalheads, handmaids, and a tour of New York you don’t want to take. Saigon Metalhood (2020) Three generations of musicians representing the past, present, and future of Vietnamese metal are given …
Two tales of troubled towns — and one set in New York, which has enough real-life troubles at the moment. Blow the Man Down (2019) It isn’t long after the Connolly sisters lay their mother …
This week’s duo sends voices across the universe. Is anybody listening? Troop Zero (2019) Do words travel through the universe — and if so, does Christmas Flint’s (Mckenna Grace) late momma hear them? A representative …
A stanchion sign in the entranceway to the Reading Grossmont greeted customers with the request, “Please Purchase Tickets At The Concession Stand.” After years spent logging an average of eight movies a month in La …
Movie lover's paradise Meanwhile, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video have shuttered their local outlets. Owner and buyer Guy Hanford understands why. “When you went into a Blockbuster or Hollywood to rent a film, you never engaged …
Writer-director Andrew Heckler’s Burden opens in mid-rage before descending into even more tumultuous turf. A sledgehammer shatters the lobby window of the Echo, a vacant South Carolina movie theatre. If the perps are of that …
The first question I asked Landmark President and COO Paul Serwitz was as direct as a remedy: as of today, did he foresee anything that might prevent the closure of the Ken on March 22? …
A January or February release — when half the country is either deep in hibernation, or worse, catching up on award-winners — has become the time of year designated as Hollywood’s dumping ground for films …
Has it really been 6 years since I stepped in and helped to save the Ken Cinema from the wrecking ball? On Sunday, March 22, Landmark Theatres will officially pull the plug on the Ken …
One wonders how replicant Harrison Ford will fare playing opposite a CG tail-wagger — or is it the other way around? — in the latest incarnation of The Call of the Wild. Just in case, …
If you thought Russian interference with the last election was reprehensible, wait until you see what Putin’s putas are doing to the movies. When was the last time a picture scraped the humor right out …
Family. It’s why Charlie lent a helping hand to his hair-triggered cousin Johnny Boy in Mean Streets. But go against Mr. French in The Departed and he’ll soon forget how once upon a time your …
A pair of backstage musicals both old and new. High Strung Free Dance (2018) New to blu-ray, this affectionately bunched bundle of backstage musical cliches plays like a smaller-scale musical mock-up of La La Land …
Spectacles, or no spectacles? That is the question that opens Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words. (Thomas settled upon two eyes instead of four.) The next voice you hear is that of writer …
Bad dads: there are no George Baileys or clownfish named Marlin in this reprobative grouping of sires. Home from the Hill (1960) There were two venal Vincente Minnelli patriarchs to choose from, neither of whom …
For a month, the link languished in my mailbox — I put off playing Quezon’s Game until the latest possible moment. Frankly, the thought of a Filipino Schindler’s List held about as much interest as …