HBO Max announced the list of films, series, and specials that are coming and leaving the streaming service during September 2021. Before I get to next month’s listings, Reminiscence arrives Friday on HBO Max in addition to playing in theaters. From Warner Bros. Pictures comes director/producer Clint Eastwood’s uplifting and poignant drama “Cry Macho” (9/17). Based on the book by the same name, Eastwood stars as a one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder who, in…
"HBO Max: Coming and Leaving in September 2021"Month: August 2021
Flag Day is a mess of a film and even if it might mean well, it suffers like most biopics by stretching out too many years over time. The film stretches some two decades of time. It starts out at the end before going back to the beginning. There’s a lot of screaming, drugs, and lying. There’s an old saying: you can choose your friends but can’t choose your family. I feel bad for both…
"Flag Day Stretches Two Decades In Under 2 Hours"
Robert Altman’s Oscar-nominated epic musical satire, Nashville, is among the recent films to join the Paramount Presents line. The film is the 24th title to join the Blu-ray line following a new remaster from a 4K scan. Appropriately enough, this film follows some 24 different characters over 5 days in the Tennessee capital prior to a concert. With so many characters, it also means numerous storylines. To put it so simply, there is a lot…
"Nashville: Robert Altman’s Epic Musical Satire"
Reminiscence is a futuristic noir set in a flooded Miami years down the road so let the fact alone serve as a warning because Miami. There may not be any cocaine cowboys in this film but Miami is starting to get the brunt of the damage on screen. Miami’s future is bleak whether it’s an alien attack or a vanishing coastline. It’s a nice break for the likes of Chicago and San Francisco after suffering…
"Reminiscence Seeks Nostalgia Because Miami"
Character actor Richard Kind spoke with Solzy at the Movies about the upcoming film, The Magnificent Meyersons, opening in select theaters. During the twentyish minute conversation, Kind also discussed previous work in A Serious Man, Inside Out, and Argo. The Spin City alumnus also talks about the most important lesson that he took away from his time at The Second City. Argot Pictures will release The Magnificent Meyersons in New York City on August 20…
"Richard Kind talks The Magnificent Meyersons"
Begin Again shows the brilliance of John Carney at work but this film should have been an Oscar contender upon the 2014 theatrical release. John Carney isn’t the first person you’d think of when it comes to making a love letter to New York. And yet, this is exactly what he’s done by way of a musical comedy. How many people would have the genius idea of recording an album all over New York City?…
"Begin Again Should Have Been An Oscar Contender"
Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker, written by Stephen Galloway, is a superb biography. One does not have to get far into this book to realize how quickly paced it is. Galloway’s prose reads as if it were a novel even though this book is a non-fiction biography of one of the few female executives to head a Hollywood studio. It was never supposed to be this way, however, because…
"Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing Bio Is A Must-Read"
A Star Is Born, the devastating romantic drama released in 1937, explores Hollywood stardom through the rise and fall of Hollywood stars. If you’ve seen any of the four feature films, you already know the basic gist of the plot. I’ve only seen two of them. But in this film, Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor) is an aspiring actress and moves from Kansas to Hollywood. By chance, she meets Norman Maine (Fredric March), a veteran film…
"A Star Is Born: A Tale As Old As Time"
Tropic Thunder, the Vietnam War satire directed by Ben Stiller and released in 2008, goes to extremes with all sorts of surprises. This year marks the 13th anniversary and while Tropic Thunder may be one of the edgiest satires I’ve ever seen, it certainly hasn’t aged well. There is language in this film that we don’t use anymore. A whole sequences in the film features a derogatory slur repeated at a mile a minute. The…
"Tropic Thunder: War Satire Goes To Extremes"
The point of a thriller movie is to thrill the audience but unfortunately, Beckett fails to do so as the film makes its arrival on Netflix. While many of us are staying home because of the pandemic, we’re counting on films to take us on a vacation. It could be anywhere from NYC to LA to a location in this film like Greece. Beckett (John David Washington) is an American tourist on vacation in Greece.…
"Beckett: Netflix Thriller Fails to Thrill"