Movie Review: ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ October 30, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews A trilogy of Marvel Comics adaptations that launched in 2018 comes to a dull close with “Venom: The Last Dance” (Columbia). Hobbled by the apparent exhaustion of the franchise’s trademark wit, writer-director Kelly Marcel’s wrap-up feels less like a waltz out the door than a stagger to the finish line.
Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon October 30, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.
Movie Review: ‘Lost on a Mountain in Maine’ October 28, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Donn Fendler’s story is recounted in the restrained dramatization “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” (Blue Fox). Though the lad’s experience was a harrowing one, this look back at it is ultimately a life-affirming tale about the power of perseverance.
Television Review: ‘Grotesquerie,’ streaming, Hulu October 23, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Catholic viewers will naturally be interested in a TV show that features a nun as one of its principal characters. In the case of “Grotesquerie,” however, they’ll tune in, to use an obsolete term, only to be turned off — both by a welter of gore and by a treatment of the church that degenerates from mere ignorance to outright hostility.
Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon October 17, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.
Movie Review: ‘Piece by Piece’ October 16, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews There’s much to like and even admire in the animated biography “Piece by Piece” (Focus). Most significantly, as a Lego version of singer, songwriter and music producer Pharrell Williams explores his past via an extended interview with director and co-writer Morgan Neville, the film highlights its subject’s Christian faith.
Movie Review: ‘Conclave’ October 11, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews A serious, even lugubrious, tone and a top-flight cast add heft to the ecclesiastical melodrama “Conclave” (Focus). Yet the film is fundamentally a power-struggle potboiler kept roiling by attention-grabbing plot developments — the last and most significant of which Catholic viewers will likely find uncomfortable at best.
Movie Review: ‘White Bird’ October 9, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews As scripted by Mark Bomback, “White Bird” effectively tugs at the heart by showcasing altruistic heroism in the face of dire evil.
Movie Review: ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ October 8, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews The upshot is a long, grim, ultimately unrewarding slog made suitable for few — more by its gritty atmosphere than by an accumulation of objectionable ingredients.
Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon September 25, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.
Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon September 18, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.
Movie Review: ‘The Killer’s Game’ September 18, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews “The Killer’s Game” (Lionsgate) is a potentially entertaining, albeit ridiculous, action comedy. Unfortunately, the criminal mayhem the movie lightheartedly showcases involves stomach-churning images of gore and dismemberment that quickly cancel out any fun that might be had from it.
