The Angry Man: John Waters
John Waters, the writer and director who emerged from the midnight movie circuit of the 1970s, has earned his status as a social critic. In 13 feature films, including “Pink Flamingos” and “Hairspray,” he gleefully presents depraved characters undermining a…
New Faces Of Evil
Contrived in its storytelling and finally unsatisfying, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s “Intruders” nevertheless has some genuinely frightening moments. How could you not when your spooky goblin is a plastic coat with a hood, work gloves and boots for hands and feet…
Classic 3D
There’s a time warp taking place at the multiplex, where past hits have been creeping back onto the big screen in an apparent bid to cash in on audience nostalgia and the 3D craze. James Cameron’s 3D reworking of “Titanic”…
Drive Ins In Peril
Running the snack-stand cash register at the Blue Fox Drive-in Theater, owner Darrell Bratt knows that every penny he earns will matter when it comes to the day his operation has to make the transition from traditional film to digital….
Barbarella: What to Think?
If you are in the right mood, BARBARELLA can be viewed as an amusing piece of campy silliness. If you aren’t in the right mood, in may come off as a stupefyingly insipid piece of soft-core almost-but-not-quite-porn. BARBARELLA was pretty…
Goon
Seann William Scott has spent his career projecting a certain goofy dumb puppy-dog sweetness. That persona has become a bit of a trap for him, and Goon, an ice-hockey movie that’s all about the pain, points to a way out….
Marcus Loew Pioneer
1925 Marcus Loew visited Ohio for two days. During this time he and W. A. Finney, northeastern Ohio Manager for Loew’s Theatres Incorporated strolled down South Main Street. Loew looked at the site where the partially built Hippodrome Theatre was…
TCM Festival At The Roosevelt
he TCM Classic Film Festival announced its final lineup Wednesday, including last-minute additions such as a screening of the Cole Porter musical “High Society” (1956) poolside at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, appearances by filmmakers Mel Brooks and John Carpenter and…
Theremin Crazy
There is something about the Theremin, both its sound and the manner of its playing, that is almost comedic. An all-electric musical saw, its over-familiar, spooked warble has become a staple of B-movie sound effects. A “good vibration” quickly reached…
Bringing Back The Fifties
Two good things about the 1950′s bobby-socks era — drive-in movie theatres and independent radio stations. It’s time to bring it back. Park your T-Bird and your steady at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit on Wednesday evening for an…
Kurbick’s B
New Directors/New Films’ presentation of Fear and Desire, Stanley Kubrick’s little-seen 1953 feature directorial debut, might seem a bit like a bonus track for one of the great filmmaking careers of the second half of the 20th century. A work…
The 3D Throne
Sam Worthington seems surly on this day. The good news is that a surly Sam Worthington tends to blurt candidly, amid F-bombs. Like, for example, how he feels about Clash Of The Titans, the legendarily clunky remake of the Ray…
Dangerous
A Dangerous Method (Grade: B-): If you can get past the ear-piercing irritation of Keira Knightley trying to sound erotically possessed by carnal pleasures, then you may have a genuine chance at enjoying David Cronenberg’s latest reel that features Viggo…
Ten Tiny Monsters
In Camel Spiders, the unapologetic B-movie throwback presented by Roger Corman, a band of soldiers and townspeople in Arizona must fight off a seemingly unstoppable species of creature unknowingly brought to the U.S. from Iraq by returning servicemen. The SyFy…
Roger Corman’s Heroines By Beverly Gray
The Hunger Games is coming. Struck by photos of Jennifer Lawrence — in character as Katniss Everdeen – coolly aiming bow and arrow at her prey, I started remembering back to the bold, tough heroines favored by Roger Corman. From…
One Shot
William “One-Shot” Beaudine, the director of nearly 350 known films (nearly one for every day of the year; some listings of his work put his output at 500 movies and hundreds of TV episodes) and scores of television episodes, enjoyed…
Beverly Garland
Beverly Garland, the B-movie actress who starred in 1950s low-budget hits like “Swamp Women” and “Not of This Earth” and went on to play Fred MacMurray’s second wife on the CBS television series “My Three Sons,” Ms. Garland made her…
3D Will Fall
A few years ago, prices for 3D movie tickets increased thanks to 3D surcharges that help cover the cost of converting cinemas to 3D, and simply because 3D films are marketed as events, which supposedly means they deliver more value…
District B-13
Before putting on District B-13 you might want to start with a quick safety check: push back the coffee table and move the floor lamp away from the couch. You’ll need room for thrashing. Next, turn the bass up on…
SuperTrash
Today was the press preview of two new exhibits at the Anchorage Museum, “SuperTrash” and “Earth, Fire and Fibre XXVII.” Both open tomorrow and run through Jan. 8. “SuperTrash” is on loan from the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. It’s…