80s movies
Movie Review: Megalopolis
4 stars out of 5 It’s not too often that an 85-year-old throws me off my game. But when the octogenarian in question is Francis Ford Coppola, perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised. He has perhaps the greatest résumé of any filmmaker, living or otherwise: The Godfather, Godfather II, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, and not […]
Movie Review: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
4.5 stars out of 5 Pee-wee put Tim Burton on the map, but it was 1988’s Beetlejuice that really established his reputation as a master macabre mischief-maker. Yes, he’s occasionally strayed from the darkness since — Big Fish, Big Eyes, Dumbo, etc. — but like the band Garbage, Burton is really only happy when it […]
Movie Review: Alien — Romulus
4 stars out of 5 I was 10 when the original Alien came out so didn’t see it at the time, but even the poster was scary. Since then I think I only skipped part 4, despite the presence of Winona Ryder. So it was no surprise on an overcast late summer afternoon to find […]
Movie Review: Ghostbusters — Frozen Empire
3.5 stars out of 5I have gone on record more than once declaring that bustin’ makes me feel good. Aided by a generous dose of nostalgia, Ghostbusters: Afterlife even snuck onto my top-10 films of 2022. And yet, I did not rush to the theater to see this follow-up. Why not? Was some mysterious paranormal […]
Movie Review: May December
4.5 stars out of 5 I have gone on record as being a big fan of both Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman (who once guest-edited an issue of my magazine). For Todd Haynes, I had to play a little catch-up, but he’s become one of my favorite directors. So I had high expectation for this […]
Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
4 stars out of 5 I was 12 when Raiders of the Lost Ark came out, and the lost ark of the Covenant was mentioned in the Haftorah portion at my bar mitzvah. Needless to say, I have an awful of lot of emotional energy invested in the character of Indiana Jones. And though hard […]
Movie Review: Sanctuary
3 stars out of 5 Last time I wrote about a French thriller, and because I’m a goofball, I nearly made a joke about French ticklers — but ultimately thought the better of it. Sanctuary, however, could use a tickler or two to spice things up. I have been a fan of Margaret Qualley since […]
Movie Review: Evil Dead Rise
4 stars out of 5I came late to the Evil Dead series. I was 14 when the original film was released, and my slightly twisted buddy Rob Mosley was obsessed with it. And yet a few decades passed before I finally gave it a chance (dear reader, I must admit I didn’t even “get” the […]
Movie Review: Creed III
3.5 stars out of 5Are all the movies trying to make me feel old? Adonis Creed is Rocky’s young protégé, and now he’s retired too? Sheesh! We’ve now reached the Rocky III period in the life of Creed, where after his latest title defense, the wealthy, famous, happy-at-home champ hangs up his boxing gloves. But […]
Movie Review: Crimes of the Future
4 stars out of 5Be careful what you wish for, they say. The last time I reviewed a David Cronenberg movie, A Dangerous Method over a decade ago, I said that the talky film made me “long for the twistedness of Dead Ringers, etc.” At age 79, my crony Croney is back with maybe his […]
Jack Silbert, curator