movie review THE LIFE OF CHUCK Running time: 110 minutes. Not yet rated. “Life is very long,” wrote T. S. Eliot. So is “The Life of Chuck,” horror maestro Mike Flanagan’s sap-fest that premiered last week at the Toronto International Film Festival. Based on Stephen King’s not-at-all-scary short story, the one-note tale unfolds backward in … Read more
In two weeks, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Sunset Boulevard” will begin previews on Broadway. Based on Billy Wilder’s 1950 cinema masterpiece, the show is about a reclusive actress named Norma Desmond who, at just 50 years old, has been completely abandoned by Hollywood and left to stew in a lonely mansion — all but forgotten … Read more
movie review BABYGIRL Running time: 114 minutes. Not yet rated. In theaters Dec. 25. Hooking up with the boss, and the inevitable trouble it causes, is a mainstay of entertainment, from “Bridget Jones’ Diary” to “Grey’s Anatomy.” But rarely is that workplace taboo as scintillating as it is in “Babygirl,” a captivating psychological drama starring … Read more
movie review SATURDAY NIGHT Running time: 109 minutes. Rated R (language throughout, sexual references, some drug use and brief graphic nudity). In theaters Sept. 27. Lorne Michaels should send a check to Sony. Because the studio’s sent him a love letter. In their new movie “Saturday Night,” a madcap comedy about the 90-minute dash leading … Read more
movie review CONCLAVE Running time: <br>120 minutes <br>Rated PG (thematic material and smoking). <br>In theaters Nov. 8 You could call “Conclave,” the juicy new Vatican thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, a pope opera. Director Edward Berger’s movie, which played Monday in the Toronto International Film Festival, is no sober depiction of the inner workings of the … Read more
Angelina Jolie knows how to lay down the law. The 49-year-old’s sons Maddox and Pax, whom she has with ex Brad Pitt, worked hard on the set of their mom’s movie “Without Blood.” While at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival to promote the drama about the aftermath of war, Salma Hayek shared insight into … Read more
There are two immediate takeaways from the movie “Nightbitch,” starring Amy Adams. movie review NIGHTBITCH Running time: 98 minutes. Rated R (language and some sexuality). In theaters Dec. 6. One that I hope most viewers know already is that motherhood is hard. The other is that trailers can be extremely misleading. The semi-fantastical comedy directed … Read more
movie review ROAD DIARY: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND Running time: 99 minutes. Out Oct. 25 on Hulu and Disney+. TORONTO — Lake Ontario turned into the Jersey Shore Sunday night. Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt came north of the border for the world premiere of their new documentary “Road Diary: Bruce … Read more
TORONTO — Bruce Springsteen spoke movingly about his wife, Patti Scialfa, and his famous band at the premiere of his new documentary “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday night. The film that goes behind the scenes of their latest tour revealed that Scialfa, 71, … Read more
Private islands are never all they’re cracked up to be. At the movies, that is. A group of 20th century settlers find out the hard way in director Ron Howard’s survival drama “Eden,” a loony soap opera in the sand that premiered Saturday night at the Toronto International Film Festival. Based on an unbelievable true … Read more
The latest grungy fight drama to test the limits of unpleasantness is “The Cut,” which premiered Thursday at the Toronto International Film Festival. movie review THE CUT Running time: 99 minutes. Not yet rated. Bidding adieu to Middle Earth and the high seas, Orlando Bloom plays a troubled Irish boxer — in fact, he’s called … Read more
movie review UNSTOPPABLE Running time: 116 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some strong language and thematic material.) As we head into the fall, and films gunning for awards are about to hit theaters like so many brown leaves, feel-good movies have been rather thin on the ground. Stopping the trend is “Unstoppable,” an inspiring true story starring … Read more
movie review THE LAST SHOWGIRL Running time: 85 minutes. Not yet rated. TORONTO — “I think I’ve been getting ready my whole life for this film,” Pamela Anderson told a rapt crowd after her new movie Friday night. The “Baywatch” star has definitely put in the hours for the part. In “The Last Showgirl,” which … Read more
Jennifer Lopez revealed to audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival the moving reason she was drawn to her new movie, “Unstoppable.” The star, 55, got personal during an audience Q&A on Friday following the premiere of the inspiring sports drama based on the true story of Anthony Robles, the NCAA champion wrestler born with … Read more
movie review THE APPRENTICE What sensible people, whose LinkedIn accounts don’t say “movie critic” anyway, would go see a film about Donald Trump right now? The former president and current candidate dominates the news cycle, and obnoxious impressions of him are ubiquitous — whether on late-night TV or at every party that serves booze. Why … Read more
movie review THE SUBSTANCE Running time: 140 minutes. Rated R (strong bloody violent content, gore, graphic nudity and language). In theaters Sept. 20. One question repeatedly popped into my mind during “The Substance,” an outrageous and beyond bizarre horror movie that had its North American premiere Thursday night at the Toronto International Film Festival. What’s … Read more
Jennifer Lopez isn’t letting her divorce from Ben Affleck get in the way of promoting the movie she made with her estranged husband. Lopez, 55, is reportedly “excited” to go to the Toronto International Film Festival this week to attend the premiere of “Unstoppable,” a sports drama she and Affleck co-produced, in which she plays … Read more
Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal’s annual Tribeca Festival, which opened Wednesday night and runs through June 16, will look a little different this year. For the first time, Tribeca will give awards to short films generated by artificial intelligence. It’s one of the entertainment industry’s first public embraces of the new technology, which many … Read more
It’s been a chilly summer at the movies. Stories about retail products, the atomic bomb, a revisionist doll and CGI Harrison Ford have gobbled up our attention, for better or worse, but not because any of those varied titles have much heart. Then there’s the “The Holdovers,” directed by Alexander Payne, which is set during … Read more
The greatest asset of the movie “One Life,” starring Anthony Hopkins, is the harrowing true story it’s based on. You might not immediately recognize the name Sir Nicholas Winton, but you have probably seen the viral YouTube video of an old man learning on live TV that the studio audience around him is made up … Read more