a picture of michael jackson on stage with smoke behind him ALT: a picture of michael jackson on stage with smoke behind him

I'll be talking movies on "Radio From Hell" (@radiofromhell.bsky.social), Friday at 7 a.m. Mountain time, on X96.

We're one week away from the release of "Michael," the big-budget (and family approved) biopic of the life of Michael Jackson.
4/4

Review: 'Normal' reunites Bob Odenkirk with his 'Nobody' screenwriter, but the violent gun battles are less interesting this time — The Movie Cricket From its barrage of gun violence to it’s faux-ironic title, “Normal” is as predictable as small-town shoot-‘em-up as you’re likely to find — a series of tossed-off ideas for a violent action movie tha...

"Normal" reunites Bob Odenkirk, as a jaded interim sheriff, with "Nobody" screenwriter Derek Kolstad. Seeing Odenkirk in action mode isn't a shock any more, and this one is more chaotic in its violence. Henry Winkler's in here as a corrupt mayor.
3/4
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Review: 'The Christophers' lets director Steven Soderbergh work with a couple of gifted actors - Sir Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel — The Movie Cricket Director Steven Soderbergh is at his best when he makes his filmmaking look effortless — and in “The Christophers,” a smart two-hander about what’s real and what’s not in the art world, he keeps thing...

Hooray for "The Christophers," director Steven Soderbergh's two-hander about an irascible painter (Sir Ian McKellen) who hires an assistant (Michaela Coel) who's also been hired to forge his work. Strong performances and smart talk about art.
2/4
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Review: 'Lee Cronin's The Mummy' serves up buckets of icky fluids in a grossout thriller has little to do with the classic monster movies — The Movie Cricket The title of “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” raises two question immediately: Who the f-bomb is Lee Cronin? And why is his take on the classic monster movie worth spending more than two hours of your life? ...

The April doldrums continue with "Lee Cronin's The Mummy." Except for Egypt and a body in wrappings, there's no connection to the classic monster movies. This is a bloody and oozing mess about a family driven to the brink by a curse.
1/4
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Are academic symposia supposed to be fun? I covered one that was, where scholars examined the many ways "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" are affecting culture in Utah and beyond.
www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2...

a close up of a green cartoon character with a red shell on his back . ALT: a close up of a green cartoon character with a red shell on his back .

I'll be talking movies on "Radio From Hell" (@radiofromhell.bsky.social), Friday at 7 a.m. on X96.

Nothing new this week is likely to knock "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" of the top of the box-office charts. So enjoy yourselves.
5/5

Review: 'Palestine 36' depicts a harrowing case of oppression from 90 years ago, and finds parallels to current struggles — The Movie Cricket Judging on filmmaking craft alone, “Palestine 36” is a moving depiction of a people facing persecution and answering with rebellion — and the escalation of that rebellion into brutal violence and repression. And because the people being repressed in the film are Palestinians, and the ones committin

"Palestine 36" is a historical epic that follows villagers becoming rebels in British-occupied Palestine. I'll leave the historical accuracy argument to others. What's onscreen is powerful, and a tragic parallel to current struggles.
4/5
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Director Aneil Karia's "Hamlet" is a modern and stripped-down rendition of Shakespeare's play, bolstered by Riz Ahmed's dynamic portrayal of the title character, a scion of a murdered tycoon balancing grief and rage on a knife's edge.
3/5
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I've been waiting since Sundance '25 for "Andre Is an Idiot" to come back to theaters. It's a funny and moving documentary about an ad writer who learns he has stage 4 colon cancer, which he faces with the same irreverence as everything else in life.
2/5
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The one big studio movie this week is "You, Me & Tuscany," a rom-com notable for its two gorgeous stars — Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page — and all the beautifully shot Italian scenery and food. The plot's silly, but nobody will care.
1/5
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a cartoon character with blonde hair and blue eyes is wearing a blue dress and earrings ALT: a cartoon character with blonde hair and blue eyes is wearing a blue dress and earrings

I'll be talking movies on "Radio From Hell" (@radiofromhell.bsky.social), Friday at 7 a.m. Mountain time, on X96.

When "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" opened on Wednesday, I saw a little girl dressed as Rosalina. It was the cutest thing ever. Which character would you dress up as?
4/4

Review: 'Fantasy Life' puts a law-school dropout among Martha Vineyard's idle rich, from a new director who isn't there yet but shows promise — The Movie Cricket I wasn’t bowled over by “Fantasy Life,” a New York-set comedy-drama in which actor Matthew Shear makes his writing and directing debut, but Shear shows enough promise as a storyteller that I want to k...

"Fantasy Life" is an uneven comedy about a law-school dropout (Matthew Shear) who becomes live-in babysitter — and falls for the wife/mother (Amanda Peet, who's wonderful). Shear, as writer-director, is a movie or two away from being really good.
3/4
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Review: 'The Drama' has the trappings of an edgy rom-com, but is only a provocation that tries to make light of a dark topic — The Movie Cricket No, I’m not going to tell you what the big reveal is in “The Drama,” writer-director Kristoffer Borgli’s clumsily provocative movie in which an impending marriage hits a crisis point. I will say this ...

"The Drama" — about a couple (Zendaya and Robert Pattinson) and the secret that threatens to derail their wedding — is meant to push buttons. Alas, that's all it does, opening up a subject that the film doesn't take seriously but can't laugh about.
2/4
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Review: 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' finds the key that unlocks the excitement and fun of Nintendo's franchise. — The Movie Cricket After a faltering first step with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which was a cringe-inducing example of putting commercial product over storytelling, video game giant Nintendo and animation house Illu...

For Easter weekend, "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" is likely to dominate the box office. It brings back Nintendo's heroes on a quest to free the princess Rosalina from Bowser Jr. The humor is plentiful, as are the colorful animation and fan service.
1/4
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a woman is standing in a doorway with a stained glass door ALT: a woman is standing in a doorway with a stained glass door

I'll be talking movies on "Radio From Hell" (@radiofromhell.bsky.social), Friday at 7 a.m. Mountain on X96.

We're one week away from "The Drama," a comedy of bad manners before a wedding, starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as the lucky(?) couple.
3/3

Review: 'A Magnificent Life' shows the life of a French literary lion, sweetly rendered in animation by 'Triplets of Belleville's' master — The Movie Cricket The French animator Sylvain Chomet has become something of a legend in certain film circles, off the strength of his 2003 masterpiece “The Triplets of Belleville” and his 2010 Jacques Tati-inspired “T...

The French animator Sylvain Chomet explores the life of his countryman, author/filmmaker Marcel Pagnol ("Jean de Florette," "Manon of the Spring"). The results are charming, sometimes moving, and delightfully drawn and animated.
2/3
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Review: 'They Will Kill You' is generous with its cartoonish bloodshed, in service to a one-note action scenario — The Movie Cricket I have to appreciate the absurd amount of spurting blood and flesh-chopping mayhem Russian director Kirill Sokolov packs into his first Hollywood feature, the comic gorefest “They Will Kill You” — eve...

A light week at the movies, caught between "Project Hail Mary" and the Easter weekend. The one studio movie is "They Will Kill You," a horror-thriller comedy with Zazie Beetz as a woman amok in a satanic hotel. Fun for a while, but loses steam.
1/3
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a woman in a white lace top is looking at the camera with a serious look on her face . ALT: a woman in a white lace top is looking at the camera with a serious look on her face .

I'll be talking movies on "Radio From Hell" (@radiofromhell.bsky.social), Friday at 7 a.m. Mountain time, on X96.

One new movie I missed: "Ready or Not 2: Here I Come," where Samara Weaving is back in the crosshairs of the super-rich. I liked the first one; not sure about this one.
4/4

Review: 'The Pout-Pout Fish' is an amiable, colorful and completely unremarkable animated tale of a grumpy fish on a quest — The Movie Cricket The animated tale “The Pout-Pout Fish” tells of a grumpy fish on a quest near the coral reefs of Australia — and if it wasn’t for a certain Pixar film in a very similar setting, you might not notice h...

"The Pout-Pout Fish" is a colorful, but largely forgettable animated tale, of a grumpy fish who goes on a quest to get his home back. Fans of Deborah Diesen's children's book series, and kids around the age of 6, will find it entertaining.
3/4
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Review: 'Mr. Nobody Against Putin' captures a teacher's journey down the slippery slope of authoritarianism, and shows us how to avoid the same march — The Movie Cricket We try to tell ourselves that when authoritarianism comes along, we’d recognize it. The Oscar-winning documentary “Mr. Noboy Against Putin” is a timely and chilling reminder that fascism won’t bang on...

The Oscar-winning documentary "Mr. Nobody Against Putin" shows how authoritarianism happens slowly, gradually, in a school in small-town Russia – all captured by a teacher and videographer who knows the ending will be his leaving Russia.
2/4
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Review: 'Project Hail Mary' is science-fiction done right, with tactile effects and the boundless charms of Ryan Gosling as a reluctant spaceman — The Movie Cricket For a movie set in the future and on a ship in outer space, there’s something gloriously retro in the craftsmanship of “Project Hail Mary" — from the movie-star charm of Ryan Gosling in the leading ro...

Finally, after weeks of hype, "Project Hail Mary" is here. It's gloriously old-school science-fiction, with smart-sounding dialogue, tactile special effects (look, Ma, no CG!) and the endless charm of Ryan Gosling as a scientist trying to save the planet.
1/4
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Coogler and Zhao met when they had their first screenplays — which eventually became "Fruitvale Station" and "Songs My Brothers Taught Me," respectively — in the Sundance labs. They've been friends ever since.

I listened to @blankcheck.bsky.social today, and Griffin Newman suggested Conan O'Brien open the Oscars with a skit involving Aunt Gladys from "Weapons." And, sure enough, we got something quite similar to that. Either Griffin is psychic, or he dropped his idea into the right ear.

A week ago, we lost one of us in a tragic and senseless event.

Natalie Graves was a long time supporter with Rogue Cavaliers Brigade in section 9.
Her loss is felt throughout the Riot and all of the stadium.

Academy Awards 2026: Here are my predictions for who will win on Oscar night — The Movie Cricket The prognosticators have called this year’s races for the Academy Awards some of the tightest and most unpredictable in ages.  Here are my predictions for who will win at the 98th Academy Awards...

Have you read enough predictions for Sunday's Academy Award winners? No, you haven't, because you haven't read mine yet.
moviecricket.net/other-writin...

a man is sitting in a car in front of a sign that says pefruit oranges and lemons ALT: a man is sitting in a car in front of a sign that says pefruit oranges and lemons

I'll be talking movies on "Radio From Hell" (@radiofromhell.bsky.social), Friday at 7 a.m. on X96.

The 98th Academy Awards are happening Sunday. Who do you think is going to win Best Picture? It's close, but I think "One Battle After Another" is going to win. Stay tuned.
5/5

Review: 'Slanted' is a body-horror thriller with some shocks and a painfully obvious message about race and assimilation — The Movie Cricket First-time writer-director Amy Wang has some good ideas floating around “Slanted,” a body-horror drama about race and assimilation taken to the extreme. One wishes Wang had gotten a couple movies unde...

"Slanted" is a good concept that should be a better movie. A Chinese-American teen (Shirley Chen) so wants to be prom queen that she looks into a medical procedure to appear Caucasian. "Mean Girls" meets "The Substance," but the pacing is a bit off.
4/5
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Review: 'Undertone' is a satisfyingly dark thriller about guilt and death that plays best on the ears — The Movie Cricket What you hear is what you get in “Undertone,” an effective horror-thriller from Canada that gets its biggest scares in its sound mix. Evy (Nina Kiri) has a lot going on for someone who almost never l...

"Undertone" is an effective thriller about a podcaster (Nina Kiri) who hears some mysterious audio that seems to let in demons — which she already has plenty of. Any movie that uses sound to generate its terror is worth the effort.
3/5
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Review: 'Sirāt' is an intense movie experience, a life-or-death drama set to the beat of rave culture — The Movie Cricket French director Oliver Laxe’s existential thriller “Sirāt” has qualities in common with the rave music that serves as its soundtrack: It’s hypnotic, energetic, propulsive and raises the tension to alm...

"Sirāt," nominated for two #Oscars, is an intense story of a father (Sergi López, from "Pan's Labyrinth") trying to find his missing daughter in the rave scene of northern Africa. There are scenes here to make you gasp, and that's a compliment.
2/5
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Review: 'Reminders of Him' centers on a grieving ex-con in a romantic weepie that never feels authentic — The Movie Cricket Fans of Colleen Hoover — the novelist who has turned generational trauma into airport-ready reading material, like “It Ends With Us” and “Regretting You” — will likely latch onto this new movie adapta...

The likely box-office champ on #Oscars weekend is "Reminders of You," an implausible romantic weepie about an ex-con (Maika Monroe) coming home to try to connect with the 5-year-old daughter she's never met. OK if you like pretty people kissing.
1/5
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