Bill Murray is the screen's funniest, most endearing curmudgeon. Here in ST. VINCENT as the title character, he's all pockmarked and rumply, biting the head off every cheerful do-gooder who has the nerve to make conversation. But that title is part of the problem, pretty much giving away the ending and any hope for subtlety. I had been lead to believe otherwise by the first two thirds [...]
Forgive me my metaphors but CHEF is an absolutely delicious creation, a nicely balanced recipe for entertainment: food, music, and family saga, peppered with a crash course on social media and just the right combination of stars to spice things up! Writer/director Jon Favreau stars as Carl Casper a chef who's stuck in a dead-end [...]
There are two extremely well-executed classics on stage in Boston right now, but you couldn't find two more wildly different experiences, in theme and execution: the first a tragedy about illusions that destroy, and the other a comedy about illusions that reveal and make merry; one realistic/naturalistic, the other, cutting edge-- with puppets! Lyric Stage [...]
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET--is worth maybe $100,000. Now onstage at the Colonial (the video above features a different cast) the show speculates on what actually happened the night of Dec. 4, 1956 when Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis met at producer Sam Phillips studio and improvised an historic jam session, later dubbed [...]
I've yet to see THE WOLVERINE and believe I am the LONE CRITIC who loved THE LONE RANGER. Here's the best & worst of the rest so far: 20 FEET FROM STARDOM--This revealing, heartbreaking documentary charts the careers, hopes, dreams, disappointments of the back-up singers who literally stand inches away from center stage-the voices behind [...]
Last summer, Paula Poundstone appeared at Bull Run Restaurant, taking the little town of Shirley, Massachusetts by storm. The crowds kept begging for more, so in response, Bull Run will have her back on Friday, September 21 for two shows, at 7 PM and 10 PM. THE FIRST PERSON TO RESPOND (via “Contact Joyce” on [...]
In 2010 Mark Wahlberg starred as a tough young boxer in THE FIGHTER. The summer of 2012 finds him knocking the stuffing out of a teddy bear in the box office champ this weekend: TED. The teddy bear movie is a lot raunchier-- and miraculously-- engrossing despite its lunatic premise. In TED, Wahlberg stars as [...]
MOONRISE KINGDOM is one of the best movies this summer --or any other. Filmmaker Wes Anderson has once again assembled a brilliant cast and turned his ironic yet earnest lens on one summer, mid 1960's, in the life of two 12 year-olds who fall in love and run away on an island off New England. [...]
HURRY!! FREE ADVANCE SCREENING of Universal Picture’s upcoming release: “AMERICAN REUNION” THE FIRST 25 PEOPLE TO RESPOND (via “Contact Joyce” on home page) WITH THEIR FULL NAMES WILL BE NOTIFIED OF A PASS FOR TWO! Tuesday, April 3, 7:00 PM at a Boston Theater. (Theater will be named when notified.) “AMERICAN REUNION” Running Time: 113 [...]
You are cordially invited to a FREE ADVANCE SCREENING of Pantelion Film’s upcoming release set to open in theaters on 3/16/12: “CASA DE MI PADRE” Thursday, March 15 at 7:00PM in Boston. (Theater will be named on your ticket.) The film is rated “R” Synopsis: Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) has lived and [...]
