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FILM REVIEWS

Showing film results: From 36 to 46



 

New Release Review - "Bugonia"

by Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com
published 2025-11-05

Jang Joon-hwan's 2003 Korean sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet! was part of that Millennial wave of East Asian genre movies that developed cult followings among western audiences. Many of those films received inevitable, and inevitably disappointing, Hollywood remakes, and now two decades later Jang's film receives am English language remake from an unlikely source: the Greek absurdist auteur Yorgos Lanthimos.



New Release Review - "The Mastermind"

by Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com
published 2025-11-01

Fittingly, The Mastermind receives its release in the wake of a headline-grabbing heist at the Louvre. The criminals responsible for that robbery employed methods that suggest they're not students of French heist movies. There was no ingenious plan to break in through the roof or via an adjoining building under cover of darkness; instead the thieves went to work with angle grinders in broad daylight. Kelly Reichardt's film is inspired by a similar 1972 incident in which thieves entered the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts during opening hours and walked out with four valuable paintings.



New to Netflix - "Ballad Of A Small Player"

by Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com
published 2025-10-30

Director Edward Berger follows up his Vatican drama Conclave with another movie set within a small city with a distinctive personality. This time it's the Asian gambling mecca of Macau, a cross between the tacky glitz of Las Vegas and the exclusivity of Monte Carlo. It's there we find Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell), a British aristocrat whose opulent hotel room suggests he hit it big at one point on his trip, but he's now fallen heavily into debt.



New Release Review - "Roofman"

by Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com
published 2025-10-25

Jeffrey Manchester is a currently incarcerated American prisoner who pulled off dozens of armed robberies of branches of McDonalds in the late '90s and early 2000s before his initial capture. In 2004, Manchester escaped from prison and spent months hiding out in a Charlotte, North Carolina branch of Toys R Us. During his time in Charlotte, Manchester ingratiated himself to the local community, joining a church and even dating a local woman. He was eventually caught after his fingerprint was found on a DVD copy of Catch Me If You Can.








New Release Review - "After The Hunt"

by Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com
published 2025-10-20

Over the past couple of decades Julia Roberts has convincingly transitioned from a great movie star to a fine actress. Recognising this, Luca Guadagnino has rewarded her with the sort of role usually reserved for the Kidmans, Blanchetts and Winslets of this world, a juicy lead part in a hot button drama. Roberts elevates the shoddy material and her magnetism ensures we're always at least partially engaged, but the film around her is an overblown mess.



New Release Review - "The Smashing Machine"

by Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com
published 2025-10-17

Sports biopics have always come up against one major problem, that of the target audience already knowing the outcome. As someone who previously thought UFC stood for Uxminster Football Club, I'm probably not the target audience for a biopic of MMA fighter Mark Kerr (isn't he your man from Simple Minds?). As such, I had no idea how The Smashing Machine might end, which meant I probably enjoyed it a little more than MMA devotees might.



New Release Review - "The Lost Bus"

by Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com
published 2025-10-13

The disaster movie meets true life drama in The Lost Bus, the latest in director Paul Greengrass's growing line of cinematic recreations of headline news incidents. This one is inspired by a story of heroism that emerged from the 2018 California "Camp Fire," the deadliest fire in the state's history, which claimed 85 lives and left tens of thousands of residents displaced. The fire began in the morning when a faulty transmission tower released a live electrical cable whose sparks ignited the dry grass below. Within hours the authorities had declared a mass casualty event.



New Release Review - "Good Boy"

by Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com
published 2025-10-11

We're in the midst of a wave of horror movies that take well-worn concepts and refresh them with unusual perspectives. In a Violent Nature told its standard slasher plot from the POV of its Jason Vorhees-like killer. Presence was a haunted house thriller shot from the first person perspective of a ghost. Skinamarink was...well, whatever Skinamarink was. Ben Leonberg's directorial debut Good Boy is a horror movie with a rather unremarkable plot about a man succumbing to a malevolent spirit in a haunted house, but what makes the film remarkable is its perspective, that of a dog.



New Release Review - "Play Dirty"

by Eric Hillis, TheMovieWaffler.com
published 2025-10-09

The professional thief known as "Parker" is the protagonist of a series of pulpy crime novels by author Donald E. Westlake's Richard Stark alter ego. The first actor to portray Parker on screen was Lee Marvin in John Boorman's 1967 arthouse thriller Point Blank. The Parker of Boorman's film was a stoic figure, and that's generally how he's been depicted in the many subsequent adaptations of Westlake/Stark's books. As played by Mark Wahlberg, the Parker of Shane Black's Play Dirty is similarly sardonic, but the world Black and co-writers Charles Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi create around him is now positively cartoonish, a far cry from the grittiness of Point Blank and 1973's The Outfit, the two best Parker movies to date.







 

EVENT PREVIEWS

State

State Theatre New Jersey presents The Sound Studio Series 2026

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- State Theatre New Jersey proudly presents The Sound Studio Series, an immersive musical experience that places concertgoers at the very heart of the performance. Held in STNJ's intimate Studio space, limited to just 80 attendees, The Sound Studio Series features a dynamic mix of both classical and rock performances. Each concert concludes with an exclusive post-show meet-and-greet with the artists, offering fans a rare opportunity to connect directly with the performers. Tickets for the series are $20-$30.



Hunterdon

Hunterdon Hills Playhouse presents "Some Enchanted Evening"

(HAMPTON, NJ) -- Hunterdon Hills Playhouse presents Some Enchanted Evening from April 7 through May 16, 2026. This is a celebration of songs that have become a part of our lives. We sing them in the shower and we sing them to entertain and amuse.



Arden

Arden Children's Theatre presents "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales"

(PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- This spring, Arden Children's Theatre invites families into a hilariously twisted world where classic fairy tales don't go quite as expected in its next production of the 2025/26 season, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (The Stinky Cheese Man). Based on the beloved book by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, adapted by John Glore, the production brings the book's fractured fairy tales to life for kids and adults alike. Directed by Steve Pacek, the production runs on the Arden’s Arcadia stage with previews starting April 8, opening night on April 18, with performances running through May 31.



Bruce

Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band's Land Of Hope And Dreams American Tour Announced For Spring 2026

(NEWARK, NJ) -- Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will launch their Land Of Hope And Dreams American Tour across the country this spring, kicking off at Minneapolis' Target Center on March 31. The 20-date run will feature 19 arena shows, including several local shows in New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia.



The

The Broadway Theatre of Pitman presents "A Bronx Tale, The Musical"

(PITMAN, NJ) -- The Broadway Theatre of Pitman presents A Bronx Tale, The Musical, across three weekends from April 24 to May 17, 2026. Step into the vibrant streets of the 1960s Bronx in this gripping musical about a young man torn between the steady guidance of his hardworking father and the alluring power of a local mob boss.












LATEST COLUMNS


Makin Waves Song of the Week is "Fairweather Friends" by Exit Eleven

After a long hiatus, the Central Jersey band Exit Eleven are back with a new single that they will celebrate the release of on May 8 at Asbury Park's fabled Stone Pony.




Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites... 05/07/2026

Terry Barber is an "Internationally acclaimed" vocalist who has graced stages such as The Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, The kennedy Center and more and his recent project called "Mercury" will now grace the stage of The Brook Arts Center, otherwise known as "The Brook,"  in Bound Brook, NJ on May 15 at 8 p.m. for a one night only engagement. 




BlowUpRadio.com's New & Notable NJ Music 5/4/26

Lazlo, founder of BlowUpRadio.com (an online radio station based around New Jersey artists), shines a light on some of the many new releases from NJ based musicians each week with this column. This week Lazlo takes a look at new releases by Teen Idle, Rich Lancia, Somebody Club, Suede Aces, and Exit Eleven. Plus a look back at "Songs for the Moon" by The Porchistas.