“The expansive gang, including the elder Tedesco, drummer Hal Blaine, sax player Plas Johnson and bassist Carol Kaye – not to mention Leon Russell and Glen Campbell — all kick back for casual chats, recalling the old days with wry smiles. It’s extremely sweet-natured, short on drama but full of good vibrations.” – Movie Mezzanine, 03/09/2015
CHAPPIE *
Starring Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Ninja, Yo-Landi Visser and Hugh Jackman. Screenplay by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell. Directed by Neill Blomkamp.
WILD TALES * * * *
Starring Erica Rivas, Ricardo Darin, Diego Gentile, Oscar Martinez and Rita Cortese. Written and directed by Damian Szifron.
“No great shakes as a documentary but a hugely entertaining repository of zingers, Compared To What? follows the indefatigable congressman during the waning days of his forty-year political career. Part hagiography, part hangout-movie, how you’ll feel about the picture will presumably depend on how you feel about Barney Frank.” – Movie Mezzanine, 03/02/2015
“Focus is two movies for the price of one. You get a sparkling, sexy comedy and its lackluster, dispiriting sequel, both in the same sitting. I enjoyed the first half of this picture as much as anything I’ve seen in a while. Alas, then the film jumps ahead three years, and that’s when Romancing the Stone becomes The Jewel of the Nile.” – Movie Mezzanine, 02/27/2015
MAPS TO THE STARS * 1 / 2
Starring Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Olivia Williams and Robert Pattinson. Screeenplay by Bruce Wagner. Directed by David Cronenberg.
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY * *
Starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle, Eloise Mumford and Marcia Gay Harden. Screenplay by Kelly Marcel. Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson.
JUPITER ASCENDING * * *
Starring Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Written and directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski.
“A micro-budget labor of love for Pacino and his pals, the film was shot incrementally in twenty days over the course of three months, mostly in the director’s own house. Screenwriters Buck Henry and Michel Zebede have stripped away the ickier elements of Philip Roth’s dirty-old-man fantasy while ramping up the droll, dark comedy of indignity at its core.” – Movie Mezzanine, 02/05/2015
AMERICAN SNIPER * * *
Starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Keir O’Donnell, Luke Grimes and Sammy Sheik. Screenplay by Jason Hall. Directed by Clint Eastwood.
SPLICED PERSONALITY 