WILDLIFE – film review by Mark Glass

– By Mark Glass – RATING: 2 out of 5 stars (PG-13) If the holidays start bumming you out over your family issues, this dour little drama might make you fell a little better… by comparison. Jake Gyllenhaal is the dad; a nice guy who never seems to find a job that feels right. The…

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INSTANT FAMILY – film review by Mark Glass

– By Mark Glass – RATING: 3½ out of 5 stars (PG-13) First of all, ignore the trailers you may have seen on TV or the internet. There is more drama and less comedy in this mix that those selected snippets might portend. That makes this a more unique and superior slice of family entertainment….

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BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS – film review by Cate Marquis

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars Joel and Ethan Coen spin not one but six Western tales in their excellent anthology THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS. Starring a fine cast including James Franco, Liam Neeson, Tom Waits, Zoe Kazan, Brendan Gleeson, Tim Blake Nelson and others, the film’s title is actually the name of the…

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JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES BACK – film review by Mark Glass

  – By Mark Glass – RATING: 3½ out of 5 stars (PG) Although I’ve been a HUUUGE Rowan Atkinson fan for many years, his first two feature films as this eponymous bumbling British superspy did little for the level of his esteem. His Mr. Bean antics were superb. His various incarnations of “Blackadder” for…

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THE ILLUSIONISTS: LIVE FROM BROADWAY at Fox theater review

The Illusionists bring magic to Fox Theater – By Cate Marquis – “The Illusionists” brought a little night magic to Fabulous Fox Theater, Oct. 5-7. “The Illusionists Live from Broadway” was a delightfully entertaining combination of comedy, magic, illusions and stunts conjured up by an international cast of five performers. “The Illusionists” are not the…

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THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS film review – by Mark Glass

– by Mark Glass – How could this film NOT have been better? Jack Black and Cate Blanchett star as a nice warlock and witch, respectively. Black suddenly becomes the guardian of a timid young nephew (Owen Vaccaro) whose parents died in an accident. Black lives in a delightfully creepy old house with tons of…

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LIZZIE film review – by Cate Marquis

Chloe Sevigny, Kristen Stewart cut deep in psychological thriller LIZZIE, based on Lizzie Borden ax murders – By Cate Marquis – Lizzie Borden and the unsolved ax murders of her parents have remain in the public imagination, perhaps in part due to that memorable childhood rhyme about 40 whacks. Andrew and Abby Borden were found…

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LOVE NEVER DIES at Fox theater review

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LOVE NEVER DIES continues the “Phantom” story at the Fox – By Cate Marquis – Andrew Lloyd Webber continues his THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA with sequel LOVE NEVER DIES at the Fabulous Fox, Sept. 18-30, 2018. The production is the opener for the Fox’s 2018-2019 and that timing couldn’t be better,…

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EVITA at Rep theater review

Crowd-pleasing musical “Evita” opens Rep’s 52th season – By Cate Marquis – The Repertory Theater of opened its 52th season with “Evita,” a hit Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice which has previously graced both the Fox and Muny theater stages. Of course, this is the Rep’s own production, not a Broadway…

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PEPPERMINT film review – by Mark Glass

– by Mark Glass – As bloody revenge flicks go, this one turns out to be surprisingly gratifying. Jennifer Garner may seem an unlikely vigilante, but she kicks plenty of bad-guy butt for perfectly valid reasons in this vehicle. She plays a loving wife and mother who suffers a tragic, undeserved loss. Five years later,…

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