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“Istanbul is a place…where people come to disappear.” This is the sad conclusion arrived at by late in this moving film by one of its principal characters, Lia, a stern-faced older woman who has crossed over into the Turkish capital from the Black Sea’s Batumi, a desolate-looking spot in Georgia. A retired school teacher, she […]

Although TNT aired a Librarian trilogy of movies last month, I am struggling to find some time to watch it. Instead, most of the December I dedicated to Christmas movies. But now I am catching up with the second one in the series. The prequel to the Librarian series, ‘The Return to King Solomon’s Mines’

In the credits of ’The Baytown Outlaws’ which Barry Battles directed, God was placed at position number five. The film does not shy away from being racist as made evident by Alfred and Longoria’s conjoined character. This is a little peculiar as they feature supporting characters who only make a few brief appearances. In fact,

Kei Chika-ura’s “Great Absence” is obviously a personal piece, the kind of drama in which one can sense a connection to the subject matter in the subtlety with which it’s handled. Anyone who has dealt with the deterioration of a parent will find something resonant in Chika-ura’s film, one that can sometimes feel self-indulgent in

In Chuck Russell’s I Am Wrath, much like many of Travolta’s latter films, this is not a good movie, but there is a good movie contained somewhere inside and the better movie is trying to scratch and claw its way out. Parts of I Am Wrath are a ton of fun, but even more moments

When the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, you couldn’t avoid the international coverage of the chaos around that major event, one that ceded control of the country back to the Taliban. When the final plane had left and the journalists returned to their home countries, the story didn’t end. And that’s where

When a film featuring Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey is taken out of theaters and goes straight to DVD release, it begs an explanation. To their credit, they are only beating supporting roles while the main ones are performed by L L Cool J and Dylan McDermott as some cops and Justin Timberlake as a

In the mode (but not the spirit) of documentaries like “Man on Wire,” “Free Solo,” and “Fire of Love,” “Skywalkers: A Love Story” is less about persistence, curiosity, and daring than it is about two careless adrenaline junkies taking ridiculous risks to get likes on social media. As the title indicates, writer Jeff Zimbalist wants

An item of commendation in the success of “John Wick” was how the film put Keanu Reeves on screen in a way that brought out the most of his acting prowess. His previous portrayals should give some explanation of how directors have been able to leverage his capabilities, like Bruce Willis as an average Joe