Weekly movie reviews

In “Primetime,” Robert Pattinson plays Chris Hansen, host of “To Catch a Predator,” an offshoot of NBC’s “Dateline” news program in the mid-2000’s. Hansen and the show’s production team would coordinate with police to lure child predators (via Internet chatrooms where there would be no ambiguity as to their intent) to locations where they would…

“Resident Evil” By Bob Garver The streak is over. The last time I started a review with that phrase, it was to mean something bad – 2022’s “Lightyear” was the first Pixar movie that I didn’t recommend. This time, it’s something good – Zach Cregger’s new take on “Resident Evil” is the first movie based…

“Practical Magic 2” By Bob Garver Apparently I blinked and the 1998 chick flick “Practical Magic” developed a huge cult following. The film, about witch sisters Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) Owens, came out 28 years ago, made only $40 million at the domestic box office, scored a mere 31% on Rotten Tomatoes,…

By Bob Garver “By Any Means” is a movie about two desperate FBI employees that can’t decide if it wants to be a “Buddy Cop” movie or not. The pair are mismatched, but are they “comically” mismatched? The pair banter, is there enough banter to qualify for the “Buddy Cop” label? There’s action, but is…

By Bob Garver The big drawback to getting in an advance review of “Coyote vs. Acme” last week is that “Insidious: Out of the Further” is even less relevant this week. The horror film toppled from second place to fourth at the domestic box office, behind even the seventh weekend of “The Odyssey,” while “Spider-Man:…

By Bob Garver The dialogue-free Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons are my favorite of the Looney Tunes. No jokes centered around annoying accents or speech impediments, just pure physical comedy about a hapless carnivore and his Ahab-like obsession with catching and eating a skinny flightless bird. Although the cartoons are ridiculous, they follow strict rules,…

By Bob Garver “The End of Oak Street” is a creature feature about a seemingly-idyllic suburban family that is secretly going through some hard times. Those times become harder and less secret when their neighborhood is attacked by dinosaurs. It’s like a “Jurassic Park” movie, except it doesn’t have to come up with a way…

“One Night Only” By Bob Garver It takes a very generous suspension of disbelief to enjoy “One Night Only.” The film is set in a not-too-distant future where premarital sex is outlawed, save for one night a year. Comparisons to “The Purge” are inevitable, which to me raises an interesting question: Which would lead to…

By Bob Garver When we last left Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (Tom Holland) back in 2021, he had to submit to a spell from Doctor Strange that would make the world forget he ever existed. His Aunt May (Marissa Tomei) had died, so he had no family left, but he had to watch his friends…

By Bob Garver Quite understandably, major studios didn’t want to schedule any new releases for the weekend between “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” I had to go down past fifth place at the domestic box office to find some also-rans that I hadn’t reviewed yet. “Evil Dead Burn” “Evil Dead” is a horror…