Heads will roll. For anyone who complained that not enough was happening on “House of the Dragon,” Season 3 feels like showrunner Ryan Condal and his writing team heard your feedback and cranked the dial up to, “a hundred things are happening at once.” After two seasons of build-up to a war, the “Game of … Read more
With a new Steven Spielberg alien movie coming out, everybody’s nervously wondering: Is this thing “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” or “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”? movie review DISCLOSURE DAY Running time: 145 minutes. PG-13 (Some bloody images, action, violence, strong language). In theaters June 12. Neither, actually. “Disclosure Day” … Read more
movie review OFFICE ROMANCE Running time: 94 minutes. Rated R (graphic nudity, sexual material, language throughout). On Netflix. As Jennifer Lopez makes her entrance in Netflix’s “Office Romance,” the seventies song “I Believe In Miracles” by Hot Chocolate (“Where ya from? You sexy thing!”) plays. And, suddenly and wincingly, we’re back in 2000, when that retro tune … Read more
Apple’s “Cape Fear” revival is slick, stylish — and brutal. It’s a star-studded crime drama with standout performances from Amy Adams, Patrick Wilson, and Javier Bardem. It’s also hard to see why this show exists, when there were two famous earlier “Cape Fear” movies – do we need a third version? But, if you ignore that element, … Read more
movie review MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Running time: 132 minutes. PG-13 (some suggestive material, sequences of violence, action, language). In theaters. Mattel’s Oscars track record ends with “Masters of the Universe.” The toy company’s latest movie is no “Barbie,” and Tony Kushner won’t be hosting any classy for-your-consideration events for it come winter. Thank goodness. … Read more
movie review TUNER Running time: 109 minutes. R (language throughout, drug use, brief nudity, some violence). In theaters. Just when you thought NYC crime thrillers had run out of new ideas, here comes “Tuner,” a refreshingly inventive and captivating thug movie that focuses on compelling and rich characters over chases and shootouts. What sets director Daniel … Read more
movie review BACKROOMS Running time: 105 minutes. Rated R (some violent content, language, bloody images). In theaters. Hollywood trembles in fear of the havoc the internet has wrought and will continue to wreak on its core business. Execs wake up in a cold sweat from a nightmare that blockbusters have been replaced by 30-second TikTok … Read more
movie review THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU Running time: 132 minutes. Rated PG-13 (sci-fi violence and action). In theaters May 22. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” boldly goes where no “Star Wars” movie has gone before. Like rival “Star Trek,” it’s a movie spun off from a TV series. The previously unheard of small screen to big … Read more
movie review IN THE GREY Running time: 97 minutes. Rated R (violence, language and a sexual reference). In theaters. During “In the Grey,” underworld characters call each other “clever” so many times that the viewer starts to wonder if these trigger-happy people, as well as the man who wrote their repetitive lines, really are clever … Read more
movie review THE SHEEP DETECTIVES Running time: 109 minutes. Rated PG (thematic material, some violent content and brief language). In theaters. A word of advice on the new movie “Sheep Detectives”: Give it a bleat. Sorry, a beat. The family film begins rather treacly, with a shepherd named George played by Hugh Jackman waxing poetic … Read more
movie review MORTAL KOMBAT II Running time: 116 minutes. Rated R (strong bloody violence and gore, and language). In theaters. No phrase terrifies me more than “for the fans,” because in the movies that tends to mean “awful and incomprehensible.” And so it does for “Mortal Kombat II,” an onscreen bucket of slop that people … Read more
It’s been 20 years, and glossy magazines are dropping like flies. But I’ve gotta hand it to the devil — she could’ve been a whole lot worse. movie review THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 Running time: 119 minutes. Rated PG-13 (strong language, some suggestive references). In theaters Friday. “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” the sequel … Read more
Theater review THE LOST BOYS Two hours and 40 minutes, with one intermission. At the Palace Theatre, 160 W. 47th Street. At long last, a vampire musical that doesn’t suck. A captivating and moody rock show about teenage fangst, “The Lost Boys,” flew open Sunday night at the Palace Theatre and brought an end to … Read more
Theater review JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE Two hours and 30 minutes, with one intermission. At the Barrymore Theatre, 243 West 47th Street. Almost without fail, the brilliance of August Wilson emerges even in mediocre stagings of his plays. That is the unshakable feeling at the revival of his “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” that … Read more
A mind-bending hallucinogen is moving out of the counterculture and into the clinic. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday greenlit the first-ever human clinical trial of an ibogaine derivative in the US, opening the door to testing the psychedelic drug as a potential treatment for alcohol-use disorder. The move comes just days after President … Read more
Theater review THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW One hour and 50 minutes, with one intermission. At Studio 54, 254 W. 54th Street. It’s just a jump to the left. And then a step to the right. Put your hands… over your mouths! “You will not be seeing a film, but a live theatrical performance,” goes a … Read more
Theater review BEACHES 2 hours and 30 minutes, with one intermission. At the Majestic Theatre, 247 W. 44th Street. Pay close attention to the lyrics of the song “Wind Beneath My Wings.” They’re pretty cruel. “It must have been cold there in my shadow.” Ouch. “So I was the one with all the glory; you … Read more
Theater review THE BALUSTERS One hour and 50 minutes, with no intermission. At the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th Street. It’s the Battle of the Affluent! Or, at any rate, the latest Battle of the Affluent. David Lindsay-Abaire’s bracingly funny new HOA play “The Balusters,” which opened Tuesday at the Samuel J. Friedman … Read more
movie review MICHAEL Running time: 127 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some thematic material, language, and smoking). In theaters. This is it? How flabbergasting to see “Michael,” the new biopic about Michael Jackson, the best-selling solo artist of all time, crash and burn into such a cheap and embarrassing bore. Say what you will about Michael Jackson … Read more
He’s the man. “Baby Reindeer” creator/star Richard Gadd is back with another show — and it’s brutal. Called “Half Man,” the six episode limited HBO series is a gnarly watch that’s hard to stomach at times, but it’s riveting, provocative, and filled with searing performances. It should sweep the Emmys, just like “Baby Reindeer” did. … Read more