[6] Cary Grant and Joan Blondell star as a private eye and a manicurist-turned-journalist who help solve a mystery that began as a jewelry theft ring and escalates to the accidental shooting death of a baby in Central Park. Yeah, Big Brown Eyes may not sound like the usual Cary Grant movie, but beneath some odd plot choices, it’s not too many shades off His …
[7] Charlie Sheen and Maxwell Caulfield (Grease 2) star as high school graduates who take a weekend car trip to L.A. where they start a killing spree. Sheen’s character slowly begins to wrestle with his lingering empathy, while Caulfield’s grows more homicidal. The film heads toward a climax where the boys turn on each other while the cops are hot on their tails. The Boys …
[5] Tilda Swinton stars as a mother trying to cover-up the accidental death of her son’s aggressive gay lover. But things get even more complicated when a strong-arm (Goran Visnjik) tries to extort the dead man’s debts from her. Tilda Swinton can make the best of a lot of roles, but this character’s timidity and fecklessness are hard for me to deal with. Since the …
[7] Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon) directs this crime thriller about a wealthy businessman (Mel Gibson) whose young son is kidnapped and held for ransom. With the boy’s life hanging in the balance, Gibson must decide whether to take the FBI’s advice or go with his gut on the best way to see his son alive again. Ransom moves briskly and offers a few …
[5] Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Strange Days) co-writes and directs this female cop thriller starring Jamie Lee Curtis. Curtis plays a new cop on the New York streets who shoots a grocery store bandit to death. The film takes a bonkers turn when one of the witnesses hides the bad guy’s gun and starts killing innocent citizens with it. The bullets he uses have …
[5] After being part of an ensemble in The Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie returns in the role of Harley Quinn — a character that really isn’t built to carry her own movie. She’s a former psychiatrist who fell in love with the Joker and turned to the dark side. In other words, she’s nuts and dangerous. She can only function as a funny, charismatic villain, …
[7] Matthew McConaughey plays an American marijuana dealer looking to sell his lucrative British production and distribution system. But when one of the bidders sabotages him to drive down the value, everyone has to watch their backs. Charlie Hunnam co-stars as McConaughey’s right-hand man, and Hugh Grant is featured as a smarmy, investigative screenwriter who attempts to blackmail them. The Gentlemen is a twisty-turny crime …
[8] I think one of the hardest stories to tell is a good murder mystery story. That’s why we see so few of them turned into movies. Rian Johnson’s (The Last Jedi, Looper) Knives Out is a beguiling blend of classic and farce, reminding me at times of both Clue and Murder on the Orient Express. Remarkably, its dark comedy never undercuts its dramatic tension. …
[8] On its surface, Joker is an origin story about Batman’s arch-nemesis. So at first glance, you might mistake it for ‘just another superhero’ movie. But writer/director Todd Phillips and actor Joaquin Phoenix have actually made a film that transcends the comic book genre. Joker works as a disturbing character study, an all-too timely allegory, and a provocative meditation on a theme — something we …
[7] Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez headline this true story about a gang of strippers who prey on Wall Street men after the financial crash of 2008 dried up their prospects. Based on a New York Magazine article, the screenplay begins with Wu and Lopez’s characters becoming good friends, suffering the economic crisis, and then rebounding by drugging men and charging up their credit cards. …
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