Category Archives: Film Reviews

Film reviews and analyses. Most recently published is in front.

Quick Takes on Black Bag and No Address

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Mark DuPré

Black Bag is a cross between the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie film Mr. and Mrs. Smith and an Agatha Christie film, albeit modernized and quite slick. It’s a film about marriage (surprisingly supportive of monogamy) and it’s full of schemes and … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Agatha Cristie, Beverly D'Angelo, Black Bag, Cate Blanchett, Chevy Chase, Julia Verdin, Kay Francis, Maya, Michael Fassbender, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Naomie Harris, No Address, Rene-Jean Page, Steven Soderbergh, Tallulah Bankhead, The Big Sleep, The Merchant of Venice, Tom Burke, Traffic, William Baldwin | Leave a comment

A Real Pain

Posted on January 31, 2025 by Mark DuPré

A Real Pain is the second film written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg (below right), best known in one demographic group as Lex Luthor in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and in another as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A Real Pain, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Dirty Dancing, film, HBO, Jennifer Grey, Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Lex Luthor, Macauley Culkin, movies, review, Succession, The Social Network | Leave a comment

Two and a Half Flicks: The Narrow Margin, Manhattan Melodrama, and Return to Glennascaul

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Mark DuPré

Narrow Margin, 1952 Manhattan Melodrama (1934) Return to Glennascaaul (1952, a short with Orson Welles) Having spent the long weekend with best friend Clint Morgan and his wife, I knew that I would be treated to a series of classic … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, Barabbas, Charles McGraw, Clark Gable, Conan the Barbarian, David O. Selznick, Design for Death, Donald Ogden Stewart, Fantastic Voyage, George Cukor, Hilton Edwards, Jack Conway, James Wong Howe, John Dillinger, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Manhattan Melodrama, Marie Windson, Mickey Rooney, Myrna Loy, Orson Welles, Return to Glennascaul, Slavko Vorkapich, Soylent Green, William Powell | 1 Comment

Quick Takes on Two Netflix Movies: Back in Action and The Six Triple Eight

Posted on January 21, 2025 by Mark DuPré

Netflix has two movies out right now (I can’t really justify calling them films) that are both second-rate. That works well for one, but not for the other. The one it works for is Back in Action, a title that … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged "Glory", A Soldier's Story, Annie, Back in Action, Cameron Diaz, D.W. Griffith, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Mem;phis Belle, Men of Honor, Red Tails, Six Triple Eight | Leave a comment

A Complete Unknown

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Mark DuPré

A Complete Unknown, which covers the very young Bob Dylan from his arrival in New York at 19 to his ground-breaking electronic performance at the 1968 Newport Folk Festival, does a few things very well, and its central performance is … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A. Complete Unkiown, American History X, Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, Bob Dylan, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Fight Club, Ford v Ferrari, Forrest Gump, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, James Mangold, Logan, Monica Barbato, The Wolverine, Timothée Chalamet, Walk the Line | Leave a comment

Melody Cruise (1933)

Posted on January 6, 2025 by Mark DuPré

Melody Cruise is a delightful, one-of-a-kind film that’s not quite a musical (but is), not quite a romantic comedy (but is, sort of), a very Pre-Code film (which is definitely is), and a crazy blend of cinematic experimentation and sheer … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Alice Faye, Astaire, Charles Ruggles, Chick Chandler, Holiday Inn, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Love Me Tonight, Mae West, Mark Sandrich, Melody Cruise, Phil Harris, RKO, Rogers, She Done HIm Wrong, Soldiers of Fortune | Leave a comment

Wicked

Posted on December 7, 2024 by Mark DuPré

Seeing Wicked (a.k.a. Wicked Part 1) brings up old-fashioned terms, such as “movie-movie,” “beautifully mounted,” and “lovingly produced”. All are true, and all are doubled-edged swords, meaning simply that many of the film’s great strengths are also some of its … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Ariana Grande, Crazy Rich Asians, Cynthia Erivo, Dancing Through Life, DEfying Gravity, Elphaba, Ethan Slater, Everything Everwhere All at Once, Fiyero, Galinda, Glinda, Harriett, In the Heights, Jeff Goldblum, John M. Chu, Jonathan Bailey, Kristen Chenowith, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, Wicked | 1 Comment

La Bohème

Posted on December 4, 2024 by Mark DuPré

La Bohème is a silent film from 1926 starring the luminous Lillian Gish and the overactive John Gilbert, and is directed by King Vidor (Oscar nominations for directing The Crowd, Hallelujah, The Champ, The Citadel, and War and Peace). Note: … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged books, film, Lillian Gish, movies, reviews | Leave a comment

Gladiator II

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Mark DuPré

So the big question of course is, “Are you entertained?”, which was the famous quote from the original Gladiator. For the sequel, the answer is basically yes. But being an entertaining movie is not the same as being a great … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Charles Laughton], Denzel Washington, Gladiator, Gladiator II, John Mattieson, Julius, Lucila, Maximus, Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe, The Mandalorian, The Sign of the Cross | Leave a comment

Conclave

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Mark DuPré

Conclave is a beautifully directed, stunningly gorgeous, carefully sound-designed, very well acted production, and is also an ultimate disappointment. For those that were curious but haven’t yet decided to see the film, it’s the story of the death of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Leave a comment