What further wisdom could I possibly impart about “It Happened One Night,” one of the most celebrated, imitated and adored pieces of classic cinema? All I can do is add my voice to the chorus of praises it’s deservedly earned over the past 80-plus years, and swoon at the sexy,...
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Christy by Request
RogerEbert.com — The Spy Who Dumped Me
I love Mila Kunis. I love Kate McKinnon. I love the idea of these two talented ladies co-starring in an R-rated action comedy. But I did not love “The Spy Who Dumped Me.” Director and co-writer Susanna Fogel has trouble pulling off the tricky balance of broad antics and brutal...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
The sequel to the 2008 schmaltzy smash “Mamma Mia!” features even more characters and more subplots and more romantic entanglements. But it’s also less entertaining, the stakes are lower, and despite its frantic energy, it goes absolutely nowhere. It has its moments, though, so if you want an empty summer...
Read moreChristy by Request — The Pagemaster
“The Pagemaster” is the kind of movie first-grade teachers would have popped into the VCR in the 1990s to kill time on a rainy afternoon. With its rudimentary animation and lame pop-culture puns, it’s simultaneously ghastly and inoffensive. It does what it aims to do for its (very young) target...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Fireworks
“Fireworks” is a strange little anime movie with an uncomfortable sexist streak. It’s essentially an animated incarnation of “Sliding Doors,” with a couple of teens experiencing the same series of events in slightly different ways over the course of a day, leading up to their town’s annual fireworks extravaganza. But...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Damsel
Mia Wasikowska may be a damsel but she’s certainly not in distress in the Zellners brothers’ quirky, revisionist Western. “Damsel” is a sly feminist manifesto disguised as a shaggy, amiable hangout movie. And it features another wonderfully weird performance from Robert Pattinson, who continues to take chances post-“Twilight.” My review, at...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Ocean’s 8
“Ocean’s 8” is a complete blast of a heist movie featuring an all-star cast of formidable actresses in to-die-for designer gowns. But beneath the glitz and glamour of this sequel lies a statement about the way women still unfortunately tend to be underestimated. The entire cast enjoys great chemistry, but...
Read moreChristy by Request — Who Framed Roger Rabbit
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” — probably since it came out 30 years ago. I fondly recall watching it with my dad at the now-defunct UA Warner Center in Woodland Hills, the location of so many of my Valley Girl movie memories. But...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Show Dogs
I’m no film snob. I’m down for a good live-action, talking-animal movie, and it doesn’t even need to be something Oscar-worthy like “Babe.” But “Show Dogs” is terrible. It’s essentially “Miss Congeniality” in the dog show world, with cheesy visual effects, hackneyed gross-out gags for the kids and lame jokes...
Read moreChristy by Request — Cradle Will Rock
All art is political in some way. This is especially true of Tim Robbins’ theatrical drama “Cradle Will Rock,” itself inspired by a play that was so provocative in the late 1930s, the U.S. government shut it down before its first performance. I’d never seen Robbins’ film, the Christy by...
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