Podcast - Freeze Frame

Russ Simmons gives his take on upcoming movies.

Freeze Frame: “The French Dispatch” (R), “Last Night in Soho” (R), “Antlers” (R)

Eccentric filmmaker Wes Anderson's latest exercise in quirkiness, "The French Dispatch," is a lightweight but eye-popping homage to personal journalism, especially a nod to the writers and editors of The New Yorker. An all-star cast is featured in an anthology of three stories from a fictional news magazine's final issue....

FREEZE FRAME: “The Last Duel” (R), “Needle in a Timestack” (R), “The Velvet Underground” (R)

If the classic Japanese film “Rashomon” were set in medieval France, it would have looked a lot like “The Last Duel.” Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodi Comer and Ben Affleck star in the true story of knights who battle to the death when one accuses the other of raping his...

“No Time to Die” (PG-13), “The Many Saints of Newark” (R), “South of Heaven” (R)

What do you want in a James Bond movie? Great Bond girls, nasty villains, fast cars, cool gadgets, exotic locales and plenty of action? Well, if so, the 25th installment in the franchise, “No Time to Die," delivers on all counts. It's a wildly entertaining if overlong saga that showcases a...

Freeze Frame: “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” (PG-13), “The Guilty” (R)

It’s certainly no surprise when a Marvel movie is a box office hit. But the 2018 action flick “Venom,” featuring a villain from the Spider-Man universe, was universally panned. It still drew big crowds anxious to see the deadly alien parasite’s origin story. But “Venom” was an uneasy and absurd...

Freeze Frame: “Dear Evan Hansen” (PG-13), “The Starling” (PG-13)

The acclaimed Broadway musical "Dear Evan Hansen" makes a bumpy transition to the big screen. Ben Platt reprises his Tony Award-winning role as a trouble, outcast teen who tries to gain sympathy by pretending to be the friend of a kid who dies by suicide. Oh, what a tangled web we weave....

Freeze Frame: “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (PG-13), “Come From Away” (TV-14)

Although she was often the butt of jokes for critics, the late TV evangelist Tammy Faye Bakker was an inspiration and an icon for many others. With her over-the-top enthusiasm, her warbly singing, her gaudy attire and exaggerated makeup, she became a cultural phenomenon. Jessica Chastain gives an appropriately exuberant...

Freeze Frame: “Queenpins” (R), “Kate” (R), “The Lost Leonardo” (PG-13)

The wacky comedy “Queenpins” is, oddly enough, based on a bizarre true story. Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste star as a couple of Phoenix women who made tens of millions of dollars by counterfeiting manufacturers’ coupons and selling them online. The filmmakers turn the story into an offbeat farce that...

Freeze Frame: “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (PG-13), “Worth” (PG-13)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe just got a bit more diverse. Newcomer Simu Liu stars in the rousing adventure “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” an impressive visual spectacle that will ultimately tie in with other movies in the ongoing superhero series following the events of “Avengers: Endgame.” Liu...