“Unfinished Portrait” (1934), Agatha Christie’s second Mary Westmacott novel, is a straightforward bildungsroman of Celia going from childhood to a suicide attempt to possible peace
“A Christmas Story Christmas” (HBO Max), the first “A Christmas Story” sequel to see Peter Billingsley return as Ralphie Parker, drops visual references to the
The British horror flick “Await Further Instructions” (2018) builds up a creepy “What’s going on?” vibe as a dysfunctional family and their significant others find
I like watching great movies and TV, but it so happens that a lot of today’s great movies and TV are murder-mysteries and pitch-black comedies.
Most Woody Allen movies are a little cynical about love. As if he’s aiming for his oeuvre to include a film at every point on
As a rule of thumb, I figure religions are neutral forces. Good or evil people will use religion as an outlet for their ingrained good
Director Richard Donner’s “Scrooged” (1988) reimagines Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” with a cynical 1980s edge, without sacrificing the timeless message. Bill Murray is the
Before Woody Allen gained enough clout to write and direct his own work, he saw some of it in the hands of other filmmakers –
In “Giants’ Bread” (1930, sometimes published as “Giant’s Bread”), her first Mary Westmacott novel, Agatha Christie seems to be as driven to write a non-genre
In the musical zombie comedy “Anna and the Apocalypse” (2017), the cliched themes of “High School Musical” meet the tropes of “The Walking Dead” in