My buddy Blake Howard called because he was baffled by director Bradley Cooper’s small-scaled follow-up to the big swings of Maestro and A Star Is Born. We puzzled for a bit over the bizarre camera angles and overcrowded script, trying to find a nice way to say that these actors are all too old for their roles. One thing we agreed on was that it needed more Balls. – One Heat Minute, 01/15/2026
“It’s not just that he’s missing the mustache, he’s also got none of the trademark, smirky joie de vivre. Reynolds moves a couple of beats behind everyone else in the picture, accepting these increasingly absurd situations with a forlorn smile. Even his toupee looks less robust than usual. It’s affecting work, vulnerable in ways we’re not used to seeing the star.” – Crooked Marquee, 01/09/2026
“It’s a film of quiet yearning and missed connections, about people who want to love each other but can’t seem to figure out how. Pokerfaced and exacting even by Jarmusch’s deadpan standards, this is one of those movies that’ll cause some viewers to complain that nothing happens, even though everything does. It all comes in under the radar.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 01/08/2026
“Cooper’s third directorial effort is an intermittently pleasant muddle with three credited screenwriters in search of a clear idea what the movie is supposed to be about. There are so many supporting characters you’ll need a dance card to keep track of everyone, but instead of a bustling ensemble they all feel like half-developed remnants from previous drafts.” – North Shore Movies, 01/08/2026
“With his pockmarks, unibrow and sleazy little moustache, Timée seems to be actively trolling his teen idol persona, playing a fast-talking hustler who’s all guts and gumption, arrogantly convinced of his own greatness and almost entirely devoid of redeeming qualities. It’s the most appealing he’s ever been onscreen. I get the Chalamet thing now.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 12/23/2025
“Few actresses can light up the screen like Kate Hudson, which is easy to forget because she’s usually starring in garbage. She’s incandescent in Song Sung Blue, rocking mom jeans and a Midwestern accent, beaming beatifically through their duets. The movie soars on those songs, and they compensate for a couple of curious storytelling choices.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 12/23/2025
“Chaplin brings an unhinged physicality and unprecedented erotic heat to the previously chaste planet of Pandora. We’ve never seen anything in these pictures like what she’s doing here. For the first half of Fire And Ash, I was asking myself, ‘Do I finally like an Avatar movie?’ and perhaps more pressingly, ‘Am I getting turned on by a giant turquoise lady?’” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 12/19/2025
“A clever little mousetrap of setups and misdirection, with some twists I didn’t see coming because I’m either too dumb or just punchy from serious movie season. It’s a knowing throwback to one of those trashy domestic invasion thrillers that were all the rage back in the 1990s, except this time we can never be sure whose hand is rocking the cradle.” – North Shore Movies, 12/19/2025
“Redford spends a not inconsiderable amount of All The President’s Men on the phone, silently reacting to an offscreen voice, a big ask for any performer and not the easiest thing to make compelling on camera. But he was always so great at that kind of acting. Redford projected such an easy intelligence that you loved to watch him thinking things through.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 12/16/2025
“Cruise was at the height of his movie star powers, yet we’ve never seen him as diminished as he is in Eyes Wide Shut. He’s never looked so short or ill at ease, with Kubrick’s endless re-takes deliberately sanding all the natural charm off his line readings. Kidman towers over him not just physically, but also transforms into an abruptly unattainable object of mystery.” – Crooked Marquee, 12/12/2025
SPLICED PERSONALITY 