THE SHROUDS (no distrib):  At age 81, David Cronenberg’s fascination with the malignant possibilities of the human body, and with the fiendish manipulation of same, still knows no bounds.  The Shrouds begins with the premise of a cemetery in which the bodies of the decomposing dead are wrapped in electronic swaddling that enables mourners to watch […]

  YOU HURT MY FEELINGS (A24):  The title of Nicole Holofcener’s newest film is a fair guide to its stakes.  Her projects (Walking & Talking, Lovely & Amazing, Friends With Money, Enough Said) have always been modest in scale, but this one in particular feels more like a collection of anecdotes than even a short […]

This may be heresy, but the virtual Sundance Film Festival went so smoothly that if they offered it as an option in a hopefully pandemic-free 2022, I’d seriously consider passing up the freezing weather and the waits for delayed, packed shuttle buses to stay at home.  Sure, I’d miss the communal experience, but on the […]

  TAMMY:  Not Even For Free – Melissa McCarthy Fumbles Her Industry Clout When a star earns hundreds of millions of dollars for Hollywood, it can show its appreciation by handing over the creative reins to the star (on a modest budget), allowing him or her to realize a “passion project.”  That’s where Melissa McCarthy […]

  TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE:  Worth A Ticket – Another Late Autumn Role for Clint Think of TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE as Million Dollar Baby Lite.  Again we have the cranky older man (Clint Eastwood, this time a baseball scout instead of a boxing trainer) dealing with a feisty, stubborn young woman (Amy Adams as […]