I know I say it every week but it really is a jam-packed episode of the What the Flick?! Podcast. Christmas movies, awards contenders, cheesy Netflix flicks — we’ve got ’em all. Alonso, Matt and I review the Scottish rom-com-zom musical “Anna and the Apocalypse”; Andy Serkis’ performance-capture take on “The Jungle...
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What the Flick?! Podcast
Oscar Nominations 2018
It’s felt like a pretty wide-open awards season so far, but this morning’s Oscar nominations helped it take some shape — “The Shape of Water,” that is. (Yes, I hate myself, too, for that pun.) But Guillermo del Toro’s dark and swoony retro romance becomes even more of the favorite...
Read moreWine the Flick?! — The Disaster Artist
“The Disaster Artist” is a good movie about a bad movie. So naturally I had to ask my filmmaker friend Jamielyn Lippman, who loves movies and wine as much as I do, to join me at the ArcLight Hollywood for the latest episode of Wine the Flick?! Jamielyn is a former...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Why Him?
Bryan Cranston and James Franco are stuck in one-note roles as an uptight father and his wild, would-be son-in-law, respectively, in this raunchy, R-rated comedy. Meanwhile, the young woman at the center of their squabble, a Stanford University senior played by Zoey Deutch, doesn’t seem to have much agency in...
Read more5 Songs That Remind Me of Movies
I haven’t done one of these lists in a while, which is a bummer, because they’re always a lot of fun and they inspire spirited feedback. But when a dear childhood friend of mine mentioned on Facebook that he can’t hear the song “Just Once” by James Ingram without thinking...
Read moreThe Interview
Columbia Pictures Rated R for pervasive language, crude and sexual humor, nudity, some drug use and bloody violence. Running time: 112 minutes. One and a half stars out of four. This is what all the fuss was about? A movie composed almost entirely of dick jokes, ass jokes and bromantic...
Read moreA Secret Protest Screening
One of the many great parts about living in Los Angeles is the wealth of repertory theaters offering an array of eclectic fare for serious film lovers. The Cinefamily, at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax, is prime among them. These people dig deeply and care passionately, and they enjoy...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Watching “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” made me long for a low-budget, indie version of the same movie — one that took out all the numbing action sequences and focused instead on the character’s inner struggle. I also realize this is a ridiculous proposal in my two-star review for RogerEbert.com. Read...
Read moreHollywood’s Biggest Morning
Oscar nominations morning is actually really fun, despite the ungodly hour. For years, I’d cover the nominations from the Academy on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills alongside all the other reporters and producers. Everyone’s in a good mood, if a bit bleary-eyed, buzzing on a combination of caffeine and expectation....
Read moreWhat the Flick?! — Interior. Leather Bar.
James Franco “re-enacts” 40 minutes of cut footage from the 1980 drama “Cruising,” in which Al Pacino starred as an undercover cop exploring New York’s gay-bar scene, in his pseudo-documentary “Interior. Leather Bar.” Alonso and I appreciated this as an ambitious experiment....
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