Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Resident Evil – 4
Strictly a one-note horror flick that got less and less scary the longer it lingered. There were a few humorous touches a la Weapons, Zach Cregger’s vastly superior prior film, but there was too much of the resident evil that kept getting bigger and bigger until the game was over.
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror – 6.5
Watched as a postscript to the current Broadway production, this was a delightful recap of the play’s improbable journey from London workshop to cult classic film, interspersed with a biography and interview of Rocky’s creator, Richard O’Brien. It ran off the rails in the last half-hour when it morphed into the story of the film’s midnight […]
NY Theater – Fall ’26
Billy Crystal 860 Unless one feels about Billy Crystal as I did about Bobby Darin, this show is irresistible. Billy recounts humorous highlights of his career, adding jokes along the way, while the start and end tell the dramatic and tragic story of the Pacific Palisades fire that consumed his long-time house at 860 Chautauqua […]
Coyote vs. Acme – 7
Rather remarkable how the filmmakers mixed cartoon and human worlds, making both equally realistic, albeit totally absurd. Also remarkable how they brought both sets of characters to an emotional climax, capped and released by the Clash singing “I Fought the Law.” Will Forte and John Cena were pleasures to watch and Wiley Coyote was somehow […]
Mary Oliver: Saved By the Beauty of the World – 4
If you just don’t get something, an endless series of talking heads saying how great it is won’t make it happen. A rapid-fire montage of unrelated birds and bees as a visual background was more distracting than useful–how do you “film” poetry? At least now I know who Mary Oliver was, although I’m no more […]