THE LOVEBIRDS (2020) Starring Kumail Nanjiani, Issa Rae, Paul Sparks, Anna Camp, Nicholas X. Parsons, Kyle Bornheimer, Barry Rothbart, Catherine Cohen, Andrene Ward-Hammond, Robert Larriviere, Lisha Wheeler, Shannon Nicole, Moses Storm, Nelson Rafael Cepeda, Casey Hendershot, Aaron Abrams, Joe Chrest, Blaine Kern and Briana Liu. Screenplay by Aaron Abrams & Brendan Gall. Directed by Michael Showalter. Distributed by Netflix. 87 minutes. Rated R. Last year when I interviewed K

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW (2019) Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Kevin Hart, Ryan Reynolds, Eddie Marsan, Eiza González, Cliff Curtis, Roman Reigns, Josh Mauga, John Tui, Lori Pelenise Tuisano, Lyon Beckwith, Westley LeClay, Pingi Moli, Eliana Sua and Rob Delaney. Screenplay by Chris Morgan and Drew Pearce. Directed by David Leitch. Distributed by Universal Pict

Peppermint PEPPERMINT (2018) Starring Jennifer Garner, John Gallagher Jr., John Ortiz, Juan Pablo Raba, Annie Ilonzeh, Jeff Hephner, Cailey Fleming, Eddie Shin, Pell James, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Richard Cabral, Tyson Ritter, Ian Casselberry, Michael Reventar, Kyla-Drew Simmons, Gustavo Quiroz, John Boyd, Michael Mosley, Jeff Harlan, Chris Johnson and Caspar Brun. Screenplay by Chad St. John. Directed by Pierre Morel. Distributed by STX Entertainment. 102 minutes. Rated R.

Breaking In BREAKING IN (2018) Starring Gabrielle Union, Ajiona Alexus, Seth Carr, Billy Burke, Jason George, Richard Cabral, Levi Meaden, Damien Leake, Mark Furze and Christa Miller. Screenplay by Ryan Engle. Directed by James McTeigue. Distributed by Universal Pictures. 88 minutes. Rated PG-13. The tag line of Breaking In is “Payback is a mother,” and that tells you pretty much all you need to know about the film. A 30-something middle class urban mom goes to clear out her

Tomb Raider TOMB RAIDER (2018) Starring Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, Kristin Scott Thomas, Derek Jacobi, Antonio Aakeel, Hannah John-Kamen, Alexandre Willaume, Tamer Burjaq, Adrian Collins, Keenan Arrison, Andrian Mazive, Milton Schorr, Josef Altin, Billy Postlethwaite, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Jaime Winstone and Nick Frost. Screenplay by Andrew Wagner & Fred Parnes. Directed by Roar Uthaug. Distributed by Warner Bros. 122 minutes. Rated PG-13. Lar

American Assassin AMERICAN ASSASSIN (2017) Starring Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Taylor Kitsch, Saana Lathan, Scott Adkins, David Suchet, Shiva Negar, Sydney White, Göksun Çam, Kamil Lemieszewski, Kiera Bell, Navid Negahban, Evie Wray, Chris Webster, Trevor White, Andrew Pleavin, Michael Wildman, Alaa Safi, Joseph Long, Bentley Kalu, Khalid Laith and Joost Janssen. Screenplay by Stephen Schiff & Michael Finch and Edward Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz. Directed by Michael Cuest

Keanu KEANU (2016) Starring Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Tiffany Haddish, Method Man, Jason Mitchell, Luis Guzman, Nia Long, Will Forte, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Jamar Malachi Neighbors, Rob Huebel, Madison Wolfe, Jordyn A. Davis, Brittany Seymour, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anna Faris and the voice of Keanu Reeves. Screenplay by Jordan Peele & Alex Rubens. Directed by Peter Atencio. Distributed by Warner Bros.  98 minutes.  Rated R. Keanu lets out one of the biggest secrets of

Run All Night RUN ALL NIGHT (2015) Starring Liam Neeson, Joel Kinnaman, Ed Harris, Boyd Holbrook, Bruce McGill, Genesis Rodriguez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Common, Lois Smith, Beau Knapp, Patricia Kalember, Daniel Stewart Sherman, James Martinez and Nick Nolte. Screenplay by Brad Ingelsby. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Distributed by Warner Brothers.  114 minutes.  Rated R. At this point, Liam Neeson is so immersed in his new kick-ass action hero persona that the question is no l

Liam Neeson and Forest Whitaker at the “Taken 3” press day at the Essex House Hotel, New York. Photo © 2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved. Liam Neeson and Forest Whitaker Veteran Actors on the Run in Taken 3 by Brad Balfour From Transporter to the Taxi series, the French producer/director/writer Luc Besson has displayed a uncanny instinct in making action thrillers that find passionate audiences. What makes the Taken series all the more remarkable – other than the 50-some

Horrible Bosses 2 HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 (2014) Starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Kelly Stables, Suzy Nakamura, Brendan Hunt and Lindsey Sloane. Screenplay by Sean Anders and John Morris. Directed by Sean Anders. Distributed by Warner Bros.  108 minutes.  Rated R. I’m not sure that anyone in the world has really been waiting around for a sequel to Horribl

Sabotage SABOTAGE (2014) Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Joe Manganiello, Olivia Williams, Harold Perrineau, Josh Holloway, Terrence Howard, Max Martini, Mireille Enos, Martin Donovan, Kevin Vance, Troy Garity, Mark Schlegel, Ned Yousef, Maurice Compte, Michael Monks, Tim Ware, Gary Grubbs and Ralf Moeller. Screenplay by Skip Woods and David Ayer. Directed by David Ayer. Distributed by Open Road Films.  109 minutes.  Rated R. Over the last few years, Arnold S

Jay Mohr Photo copyright 2012 Harley Reinhardt Jay Mohr – Mohr! Mohr! Mohr! (How Do You Like It?  How Do You Like It?) by Ronald Sklar The beloved funnyman now rocks a powerful podcast. One person not caught up in the Charlie Sheen hoopla is comedian/actor Jay Mohr. In fact, Sheen, sober, sane and coherent, chilled uncharacteristically with the put-it-there-pal Mohr, who has a gift of bringing out the best in people. The two shared the shit on the highly downloaded podcast M

Sara Paxton Sara Paxton Takes a Sharp Left Turn to the Last House by Jay S. Jacobs It’s never easy for a child star to make the jump to serious adult roles.  For every Jodie Foster or Elijah Wood there are dozens of actors who can’t seem to get work once they hit puberty. Sara Paxton has it a little easier than many, because although she has been acting regularly since she was six, she did not truly break out until she was in her mid-teens.  Therefore, it is not quite as big

Hitman HITMAN (2007) Starring Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko, Robert Knepper, Ulrich Thomsen, Henry Ian Cusick and Michael Offei. Screenplay by Skip Woods. Directed by Xavier Gens. Distributed by 20th Century Fox.  107 minutes.  Rated R. Hint to Interpol: when you are tracking down a silent, ruthless contract killer, perhaps you should pay a little more attention to the man with his head shaved and a bar code tattooed on the back of his skull. In the movie Hi

Kitchen Confidential Kitchen Confidential The Complete Series (2005) (20th Century Fox Home Video-2007) Kitchen Confidential came and went as fast as standing in line at McDonald’s Express. In it, superstar chef Anthony Bourdain (rechristened Jack for the series), as played by the underappreciated Bradley Cooper, talks about how your restaurant meal should “dazzle, amaze and delight.” Check, check and check. And yet, the mysterious Fox network raised a finger and yelled, “Che

Action Action The Complete Series – Uncut and Unbleeped (1999) (Sony Home Video-2006) Of the unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century – JFK’s assassination, Y2K, the popularity of tattoos – probably the most baffling of all was the cancellation of the dish-dirty Fox comedy Action. The series, starring an amazingly funny Jay Mohr in a tour de force as an ace a-hole Hollywood producer – is a look at the pathetic mess that is the business of show, with all its deceits, back s

Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever BALLISTIC: ECKS vs. SEVER (2002) Starring Antonio Banderas, Lucy Liu, Gregg Henry and Ray Park. Screenplay by Alan B. McElroy. Directed by Kaos. Distributed by Warner Brothers.  91 minutes.   Rated R. Ten reasons I hated Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever: It has replaced Tori Spelling’s Mother May I Sleep With Danger? as the worst movie title ever. No matter what anyone says, Antonio Banderas just can’t act!  He overacts and mugs more than any respected acto