Prediction: this French movie shot in semi-documentary style about a Special Victims unit of the Paris police specializing in sexual crimes against children will get more than just art-house buzz when it's released in May. Ably employing a large cast with at least ten major characters (one of whom she plays herself), director and co-writer … Continue reading POLISSE

You will laugh in spite of yourself, then you'll start to get depressed, then you'll laugh a couple more times, and ultimately you'll wonder why this movie was ever made. This is not a biopic; it is simply a transfer from the "classic", roughly 30's-through-50's shorts to a recast, contemporary feature-length version that wants nothing … Continue reading THE THREE STOOGES

This outstanding series just keeps getting better. Even the average episodes are better than just about everything else on TV. SLAUGHTERHOUSE is a perfect example of how great this series is. After a season of densely layered plotting and head scratching behavior from Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant, where's your Emmy nomination?) it all works out … Continue reading JUSTIFIED, Season 3 Finale

Not being a "girl", maybe I just don't understand the special brand of humor and angst on display here, but GIRLS was beyond dull. I figured I'd give it a try based on the twin facts that it is produced by Judd Apatow and is broadcast on HBO. Consider my TiVO now available in this … Continue reading GIRLS

Let me start by saying I would watch Jennifer Lawrence reciting the phone book in a coffee shop. Yes, she's a beautiful young woman, but I am just as enthralled by her acting chops. Anyone who has seen WINTER'S BONE knows what I mean. So, that is the only reason I even considered going to … Continue reading THE HUNGER GAMES

Not what I was expecting and not really what I wanted. This proves again that the movies you're most excited about are the ones that usually disappoint. It's a bait-and-switch; you go to see a horror movie which does, in fact, start out as a teens-in-dangerous-isolation slasher flick -- but then it turns into a … Continue reading THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

Waiting for your receipt at a REAL machine is probably more exciting and unpredictable than the movie. The premise is full of potential (3 people trapped in an atm with a killer outside) but the execution is lazy and pointless. And the "twist" ending isn't even an ending. Bad acting, no suspense, and long pointless … Continue reading ATM

The promise of a new horror movie from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo -- he made the possibly superior sequel 28 WEEKS LATER -- goes unfulfilled in this bilingual, dual plotline bore. The international financing, the international cast, the lone star familiar to American audiences (and a Brit at that, Clive Owen) -- it has all the … Continue reading INTRUDERS