"The Wizard of Lies" is a riveting biopic about businessman Bernard Madoff's ponzi scheme where he bilked investors out of some $65 billion dollars. This HBO film has solid direction by Barry Levinson ("Rain Man" 1988) and a high quality teleplay by Levinson, Sam Baum, and John [..]
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
"Blade Runner 2049" is, to put it bluntly, boring as heck. This sequel to 1982's "Blade Runner" suffers from a slow-moving storyline that makes this nearly two-and-a-half hour movie seem to last forever. We have Denis Villeneuve to thank for this; he is a very cerebral [..]
The Greatest Showman (2017)
"The Greatest Showman" is a very entertaining salute to Phineas Taylor Barnum and his Barnum and Bailey Circus, which was in business from 1871 to 2017. The multi-talented Hugh Jackman took over the title role in an exceptional way, acting, singing, and dancing, even as the storyline [..]
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
Director Kenneth Branagh ("Thor" 2011) has a fresh new version of Agatha Christie's 1934 novel "Murder on the Orient Express." Modern production values, a lively screenplay by Michael Green, and a "fussy" Hercule Poirot played by Branagh make this third movie version a very watchable and entertaining [..]
Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (2017)
"Boo 2! A Madea Halloween" has bad writing, terrible acting, and sloppy direction. But somehow this tenth film in Tyler Perry's "Madea" comedy series, that started in 2005 with "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," is somehow entertaining with lots of laughs and was a hit in [..]
Wind River (2017)
"Wind River" is an interesting crime drama about a murder investigation on an Indian reservation in Wyoming. Director-screenwriter Taylor Sheridan ("Hell or High Water" 2016) has given the audience a film with an engrossing story and good character development, the one flaw being the excessive violence. [..]
Kill Switch (2017)
"Kill Switch" is a Dutch science fiction movie about a power company that builds a massive tower able to tap into unlimited energy. Unfortunately, it is discovered that the tower endangers people in a parallel universe. Don't you hate when that happens? Director [..]
Let There Be Light (2017)
Kevin Sorbo ("Hercules" on TV, 1995-1999) plays an atheist who goes through a near death experience in a car crash and converts to Christianity in "Let There Be Light." Besides turning in a heartfelt and believable performance in the lead role, Sorbo also made his directorial debut. [..]
All the Money in the World (2017)
The kidnapping of John Paul Getty III in 1973 is the subject of "All the Money in the World" from producer-director Ridley Scott ("Alien" 1979). This project ran into big problems when, one month before its scheduled release in November, 2107, Scott fired star Kevin Spacey due [..]
Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017)
Director-screenwriter Peter Landesman ("Parkland" 2013) and producer Ridley Scott ("Alien" 1979) made a poor attempt to depict the drama behind FBI official Mark Felt's leaking of information about the Watergate scandal to reporter Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in the 1970's. The bland and uninteresting screenplay by [..]