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Bob Fosse’s LENNY is a biopic about famed comic Lenny Bruce. The famously “sick” and controversial performer is made into a somewhat saintly truth teller. The script is weak and predictable and Dustin Hoffman is never believable in the lead…. I always felt I was watching the actor not the character. On the plus side Valerie Perrine is superb as Bruce’s drug addicted wife as is Jan Miner as his ...

Robert Benton’s 1977 THE LATE SHOW is an odd mix of thriller, comedy, and character study. An aged over the hill detective (Art Carney) tries to solve a murder mystery with an unusual young woman (Lily Tomlin). Despite very different acting styles the pair really do have chemistry and work well together. As written Tomlin’s character is rather annoying, so it is a tribute to her performance tha...

Luchino Visconti’s 1960 ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS tells the story of a migrant family from southern Italy and its disintegration when they move to the industrial north. This three hour drama shifts between melodrama and opera in terms of its screenplay. What makes it a classic is Visconti’s sensitive direction and a strong cast. Renato Salvatori is especially remarkable as the brother whose rise a...

Jackie Chan and Benny Chan’s 1998 WHO AM I is a wild action comedy. As with most Jackie Chan films the plot and characters are decidedly secondary to the visuals and stunts. The fight choreography is breathtaking. The finale is quite spectacular and features Jackie sliding down the side of a skyscraper. He does all his own stunts and there are no special effects. Great use of locations especia...

In Steven Soderbergh’s THE CHRISTOPHERS the children of a once famous artist hire a forger to complete some unfinished, long ago abandoned canvases so they'll have an inheritance when he dies. Michaela Coel plays the forger and Ian McKellen the artist and the film is basically a dialog between the two. Both give marvelous performances. Set mostly in the artist’s rambling messy house this environ...

Though it was far from the first movie to depict space travel George Pal’s 1950 DESTINATION MOON was the first serious attempt to show how it might be done. Based on a novel by cult sci fi author Robert Heinlein (STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and STARSHIP TROOPERS among many others) they got many details right and at least one wrong (atomic powered rockets). Heinlein also worked on the screen play. ...

Honestly I am not sure what to make of Kristoffer Borgli’s THE DRAMA which I think may well be the intent. The film begins in a light mode following rom-com cliches including a cute meet. A couple (Zendaya and Robert Pattinson) only a few days short of their wedding have their lives and plans knocked wildly eschew when the bride reveals a very terrible secret from her past. From this point on I...