Four Lions

Got a lot of praise as being a satire on the foolishness of religious fanaticism, where four Muslim idiots from London decide to become suicide bombers. They are naïve and stupid. I just couldn’t get the joke, though. I read about how it unfolded after I stopped watching it, and the only thing I could see that was amusing was that they did manage to off ... Read more »

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Actually, three weddings, a funeral, and then a wedding that doesn’t happen … but who’s counting? This was one of the first of a very successful string of British comedies that did very well in the US, too. For a while it was the highest-grossing British film of all time. (Now it’s either Mamma Mia! or Notting Hill, depending on how you ... Read more »

The Fox

This movie, based on a novella by D.H. Lawrence, was probably pretty revolutionary for its time, but it hasn’t fared all that well with time. Sandy Dennis and Anne Heywood are lesbians (though I didn’t see all that much evidence of that) living on a rural farm. Keir Dullea shows up and says he is the grandson of the previous owner, has been away at sea for years and didn’t know the old man ... Read more »

Foxcatcher

One of those stories where I wonder why anyone wanted to make it. And why Steve Carrell, noted funnyman, wanted this as his debut into serious drama. He’s quite good, but still, this John du Pont character was such a clueless asshole …

I’ve long felt sorry for wrestlers. It’s a noble sport, unlike boxing, where your goal is to hurt your opponent until he ... Read more »

Foyle’s War

It is 1940, England is at war and it’s not going so well. British forces have been defeated in Norway, even though they outnumbered the Nazis 13,000 to 2,000. They are getting their butts whipped in Belgium and France, too. Dunkerque is not far in the future. Christopher Foyle is a detective in Hastings, Sussex, in the south of the country, doing his bit on the home front. A lot of his ... Read more »

Fracture

There are people who will tell you there is no such thing as a perfect murder. One that really annoys me is some ex-cop named Joe Something, who looks at the camera and says, “If you commit a murder, I will find you!” Bullshit, Joe. I’ll bet there are “open” (that is, “unsolved”) cases in your files. Every homicide detective has them. Most stranger killings, for ... Read more »

Frailty

Here we get off to a cracking good start, and waste it all in an outrageous ending. Bill Paxton (who also directed) lives in the fictional (I’m happy to say) town of Meat, Texas, with his two young sons. All is well until one night he goes off the rails and plunges off the trestle of sanity into the dark river of religion. An angel has spoken to him, and his mission in life is now to kill ... Read more »

Frank

Sometimes these small independent movies with a weird premise work very well, as in Lars and the Real Girl. Sometimes they don’t work at all, as in, sadly, this one.

A young man who longs to make music, but isn’t very good, joins an experimental rock group headed by a man named Frank, who wears a big, round false head 24/7. Sleeping, in the shower, eating ... Read more »

Frank and Ollie

Les Clark
Ollie Johnson
Frank Thomas
Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman
John Lounsbery
Eric Larson
Ward Kimball
Milt Kahl
Marc Davis
These are the legendary “Nine Old Men” of the Disney animation department, the ones who gave the films from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ... Read more »