NEW AND NOTABLE BOOKS FOR SUMMER 2023
THE LAST ACTION HEROES: THE TRIUMPHS, FLOPS AND FEUDS OF HOLLYWOOD’S KINGS OF CARNAGE by Nick De Semlyen (Crown) There was a time, not so many years ago, when certain names were a guarantee of box-office gold. Stallone and…
BARBIE: IT’S ABOUT TIME
I remember when women despised the Barbie doll for creating an unrealistic, unattainable representation of the female body. Over time, the smart people at Mattel expanded their line to be more diverse and inclusive and the stigma all but…
‘OPPENHEIMER’ IS A TRADITIONAL BIOPIC
Now that the drum-beating has peaked, we can see for ourselves what Christopher Nolan has wrought in Oppenheimer, as unlikely a major-studio summer movie as ever was. It’s all dressed up in IMAX and 70mm but what we get is…
THE MIRACLE CLUB
I’ve become wary of films like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 that offer leading roles to veteran actors and coast on the goodwill they have built up with audiences over many decades’ time. The Miracle Club isn’t exploitive of its eminent cast,…
‘THEATER CAMP’ HAS SURPRISES IN STORE
This endearing faux documentary will appeal to anyone who has been, or known, or given birth to a theater kid (as my wife and I did). They are a breed apart and cling to one another like long-lost cousins…
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE
The latest installment in this blockbuster espionage series shares some of the same assets and liabilities as Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny, but this one scores higher in my tally because it’s better paced, funnier, and genuinely exciting. Tom…
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY
There’s an old, old show-business maxim that encourages performers to leave their audiences wanting more. Apparently that concept is unknown to many of today’s movers and shakers. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has everything money can buy and…
