TV-14, 5hr 44min TV-Miniseries Documentary, Crime, History Now playing/streaming on HBO Go, HBO Now & On-Demand “Shelter in place” orders give us an extraordinary amount of time to catch up on things we’ve been putting off around the house; Touching up paint, cleaning the closet or garage, reorganizing the pantry and catching up on movies.…
Buttered and Salty: ‘Onward’ Review
Pixar's new release is loaded with heart but missing originality
PG, 1h 42min Animation, Adventure, Comedy In Theaters Now Disney/Pixar’s “Onward” is a fun, charming motion picture set in a suburban fantasy world where two teenage elf brothers embark on a quest to discover if there is still magic out there. My most critical note of the film is that it doesn’t particularly feel like…
Buttered and Salty: ‘The Invisible Man’ Review
Leigh Whannell delivers an effective, smart and timely thriller
PG, 2hr 4min, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi Opens Today Leigh Whannell’s “The Invisible Man” is an effective, smart and timely thriller. In an era where every known property from every possible genre is exposed and remade multiple times, Universal Studios and Blumhouse Productions found a way to bring something new and fresh to the proceedings. This…
Buttered and Salty: ‘The Call of the Wild’ – Review
Disney gives us another doggone remake
PG, 1hr 40min, Adventure, Drama, Family Opens Today About halfway through the Disney/Fox picture “The Call of the Wild” I started getting distracted by assessing how the almost 78 year old Harrison Ford will look and sound doing the fifth Indiana Jones film, which starts shooting this summer. Such was my investment in the most…
Buttered and Salty: ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’ – Review
These two friends return for another adventure, available now on Blu-Ray
R, 1hr 45min, Comedy Playing in select theaters & available on DVD/Blu-Ray and all major Streaming Services Full dIsclosure: I am a Kevin Smith fan. He hit at that perfect sweet spot for me in the mid 90’s when I was in High School and just beginning to expand my horizon in regards to…
Buttered and Salty: “The Lighthouse” Blu-Ray Review
R, 1hr 49min, Drama, Fantasy, Horror Now Available on DVD/Blu-Ray and Streaming Services Some movies just feel like cinema. The look. The dialog. The feel of the environment. They all have a tangible quality that seeps out of its pores. “The Lighthouse” is one of those films. Robert Eggers’ film is about two lighthouse keepers…
Buttered and Salty: ‘1917’ Review
Sam Mended delivers a exceptional tribute to World War One.
Sam Mended delivers a exceptional tribute to World War One.
Buttered and Salty: ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ (Video Review Included)
A movie that feels as if millions of voices cried out with their fan-made ideas and every single one of them was included here
R, 2hr 21min, Action, Adventure, Fantasy Opens Today “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is an entertaining but somewhat vapid movie. Its script and story offer nothing fresh or new to the proceedings, but instead gives a paint by numbers story that makes it feel like the most expensive fan-film ever made. Two years ago,…
Buttered and Salty: ‘The Irishman’
Martin Scorsese taps the luck of the Irish for his 26th feature film
R, 3hr 29min, Biography, Crime, Drama Now streaming on Netflix and playing in select theaters Back in 2004 I had the pleasure of attending a screening of Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” at the Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. This was an appropriate location being that the theater itself appeared in the film during a scene…
Buttered and Salty: ‘Joker’ Review
The 'Clown Prince of Crime' gets his own, adult-themed movie
R l 2h 2min l Crime, Drama, Thriller Now Playing I have spent the last few days relaying my impressions of Todd Phillips’ “Joker” to several friends that have asked about my initial thoughts on the villain-based stand-alone film. I have paused repeatedly every time someone inquired if it was good, waiting to find the…
Buttered and Salty – ‘Rambo: Last Blood’ Review
The force of freedom return is this bloody, fulfilling fourth sequel
R, 1h 29min, Action, Adventure, Thriller Now Playing There’s a scene in “Rambo: The Last Blood” where Sylvester Stallone’s titular hero enters a human trafficking ring and quickly dismantles every bad guy in the building. He works quickly, effectively, and brutally to free the hostages that work there. He is surprised, just like the audience…
Buttered and Salty: ‘Ad Astra’ Review
Brad Pitt takes us to the stars in this wonderful new sci-fi drama
PG-13, 2h 2min Adventure, Drama, Mystery Opens Friday Do we really want to know what’s out there? That’s the question that has plagued humanity for several millennia, as they gazed on up into the heavens and wondered if someone was gazing right back billions of light years away. Director James Grey’s “Ad Astra” may or…
Buttered and Salty – ‘IT: Chapter Two’
In the anticipated sequel to one of the most successful horror film of all time, you'll float two
R, 2h 49min, Horror Now Playing “IT” was an early review for this column and one of my favorite films of 2017. The core cast of wonderful young actors (dubbed “The Losers”), the brilliant terror-filled performance of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and the brilliant way the source material was executed by director…
Buttered and Salty: ‘The Last Black Man in San Francisco’
An indie gem comes to home video
R, 2h 1min, Drama Available now on DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K and all Streaming Platforms The cineplex has become an amusement park, home to the big-budgeted roller-coasters. Very rarely do small or mid-level films that focus on more human stories find space next to a behemoth like “Avengers: Endgame.” Thankfully, home video and digital streaming have…
Buttered and Salty – Dave Chappelle: ‘Sticks and Stones’
Sticks and Stones may break your bones, but Dave will entertain you
1h 5min, Comedy TV Special Now Streaming on Netflix Like many people, Dave Chappelle first became a blip on my radar with his mega-hot “Chappelle’s Show” (2003-2006). I’ll never forget the day. I was in film school in Los Angeles and a fellow classmate, Doug (last name withheld to protect the innocent), invited us over…
Buttered and Salty: ‘Blinded By The Light’
A movie that ends the summer season like a Boss
PG-13, 1h 57min, Comedy, Drama, Music Now Playing If you’ve ever had the pleasure of taking in a live show of the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, booty-shaking, love-making, earth-quaking, Viagra-taking, justifying, death-defying, legendary Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, you know that it’s an experience unlike none other. Springsteen opens a vein and bares his…