Actor Joe Don Baker, of James Bond and ‘Walking Tall,’ dies at 89
He appeared in three Bond films.
Movies
Endurance swimmer is attempting first-ever swim around Martha’s Vineyard ahead of ‘Jaws’ anniversary
No one has ever swum around the island of Martha’s Vineyard before.
Cannes, the global Colosseum of film, readies for 78th edition with new challenges on the horizon
Geopolitics course through Cannes unlike any other festival.
Disney’s ‘Mandalorian & Grogu’ to shoot in California thanks to huge tax credit
This is the way to persuade Disney to shoot the next “Star Wars” movie in...
Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr.: the secret weapon in ‘Oppenheimer’
Christopher Nolan and Robert Downey Jr. have each worked on some of the most lucrative...
Da’Vine Joy Randolph: Major prizes, major attention, major unease
The “Holdovers” star Da’Vine Joy Randolph has had a charmed run through awards season so...
100 years of memories at the Balboa Theatre: Centennial gala set for late March
At 6 p.m. March 28, 1924, the Balboa Theatre celebrated its grand opening at the...
‘Drive-Away Dolls’ trashy fun, but also exceedingly disposable
It’s fascinating that Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, longtime filmmaking collaborators and spouses, and the...
‘Dune: Part Two’ sustains the dystopian dream of ‘Part One’
Three firm thumps into the Arrakis sand is all you need to summon a sandworm...
This week’s Oceanside International Film Festival to feature La Jollan’s ‘cringey’ comedy movie
La Jolla filmmaker Tony Olmos' latest film is part political satire, part dystopian adventure —...
Movie Review: Dakota Johnson is fun enough, but ‘Madame Web’ is repetitive and messy
There is a lot of pretty niche comic book mythology swirling around “Madame Web,” the...
Hillman Grad studio aims to give marginalized TV and film artists their big break
At a time when studios are zeroing in on existing intellectual property and tried-and-true storylines...
In ‘Dune: Part Two,’ filmmaker Denis Villeneuve realizes a lifetime dream
LOS ANGELES — Denis Villeneuve doesn’t feel like he came back to Arrakis for “Dune: Part Two.”...
Movie review: The flavors of love: ‘The Taste of Things’ a delectable blend of food, romance
It starts humbly, a gnarled turnip emerging from the soil in the early morning light;...
Dead on arrival: There’s nothing animated about corpse comedy ‘Lisa Frankenstein’
The equal parts forgettable and regrettable teen comedy “Lisa Frankenstein” stars Kathryn Newton — best...
‘One Love’ doesn’t serve reggae icon’s legacy well
Bob Marley was born in 1945, the son of an 18-year-old mother and a much...
‘The Promised Land’ a sweeping Nordic Western epic
Nikolaj Arcel’s “The Promised Land” is aptly titled. Adapted from the novel “The Captain and...
San Diego International Jewish Film Festival to kick off with film about one-hand pianist John Bayless
The 2024 San Diego International Jewish Film Festival gets under way this week with 30...
‘Miller’s Girl’ with Jenna Ortega is an airless, cold affair that fails to spark
Jenna Ortega's stark rise as Gen Z's goth-glam princess takes a pointless, awkward turn in...
In ‘I.S.S.,’ war on Earth disrupts life aboard the International Space Station
With war raging in Ukraine and U.S.-Russia relations below freezing, the Cold War movie may...
Ava DuVernay’s ‘Origin’ is a powerful, artful, interpretation of ‘Caste’
Words like “important” and “vital” are thrown around possibly a little too much in film...
In the bonkers ‘The Beekeeper,’ Jason Statham has more than a bee in his bonnet
Secret agents and murderous assassins seem to lurk in increasingly mundane places. “The ant"...
Still trying to make ‘fetch’ happen, now in song: ‘Mean Girls’ gets a musical update
The first “Mean Girls,” that compulsively watchable high-school based social satire by Tina Fey, came...
In ‘The Teachers’ Lounge,’ one middle school as microcosm of a troubled world
What happens in the teachers’ lounge, anyway? When we were kids, that closed door seemed...
Anthony Hopkins shines in ‘Freud’s Last Session’
“Freud's Last Session," starring Anthony Hopkins as Sigmund Freud, adds to a string of sterling...
‘The Color Purple’ is a stirring big-screen musical powered by its spectacular cast
Exuberant performances from a cast led by Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks...
If this is goodbye, ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ keeps its trident high
It's perhaps appropriate that the latest Aquaman movie is about a lost kingdom. In many...
A transformed Zac Efron gives his all in tragic, true-life wrestling tale ‘Iron Claw’
It doesn’t take long to understand the level of commitment Zac Efron brings to “The...
Ghosts and longing and love in ‘All of Us Strangers’
Andrew Scott plays a writer trying to write something about his dead parents in Andrew...
A helicopter father flies his duck family south in ‘Migration’
Illumination, maker of “Despicable Me,” “Sing” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” has built its...
Auto pioneer Enzo Ferrari gets a solid biopic, but it doesn’t make the heart race
Napoleon Bonaparte. Leonard Bernstein. Willy Wonka. Aquaman — there are a ton of Guy Movie...
In harrowing ‘Zone of Interest,’ the Holocaust’s evils are cloaked in mundanities
It’s just a woman trying on a fur coat alone in her room, and sampling...
Jeffrey Wright is brilliant in the smart and funny satire ‘American Fiction’
Jeffrey Wright’s Thelonious “Monk” Ellison is at the end of his rope at the beginning...
Timothee Chalamet waltzes through the whimsical ‘Wonka,’ but Roald Dahl’s daring is missing
The original 1971 “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” may have been a delicious dream,...
Bradley Cooper’s ‘Maestro’ leaves many notes of Bernstein unplayed
Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” a high-wire act of a biopic, leaps constantly between on stage and...
La Jolla-based Spike and Mike festivals are acquired by Skybound Entertainment with plans for a revival
Two animation events — and the collection amassed from them — with deep roots in...
In ‘Poor Things,’ Emma Stone takes an unusual path to enlightenment
It is sickly hilarious to make a movie in which so much consensual sex is...
Swan song or not, Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’ is a master surveying his empire
When Hayao Miyazaki's “The Boy and the Heron" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival...
In concert film ‘Renaissance,’ Beyonce offers glimpse into personal life during world tour
LOS ANGELES — In Beyoncé’s concert film, she described her recent Renaissance World Tour as being run...
‘Eileen,’ a wonderful novel about an ‘invisible’ young lady, becomes a oddball film
Something strange has happened to Eileen Dunlop, and we don't just mean the plot of...
Spinal Tap film sequel will include guest appearances by Paul McCartney, Elton John and Garth Brooks
Paul McCartney, Elton John and Garth Brooks are set to appear in the sequel to...
Emerald Fennell chronicles a promising young man in audacious, shock-filled ‘Saltburn’
Two years ago Emerald Fennell stood on the Oscars stage hoisting her writing trophy for...
Think they’ve seen it all? Holiday gift ideas for the movie lover who wants more
It’s been a wonderful year at the movies for cinephiles, but what do you get...
Disney’s musical fairy tale ‘Wish’ is beautiful, but lacking magic
Walt Disney Animation's "Wish" is stunning to look at with textured and rich watercolor-inspired animation...
In ‘Napoleon,’ the emperor has no clothes but plenty of ego
For such a famed historical figure, Napoleon has made only fleeting appearances in movies since...
Taika Waititi’s ‘Next Goal Wins’ is a sweet, frothy diversion but no knee slide
In “Next Goal Wins,” a soccer coach comes from far away to lead a hapless...
Nicolas Cage finds fame to be highly overrated in chillingly funny ‘Dream Scenario’
Quick: What’s a good adjective for Nicolas Cage’s screen presence? Mercurial, perhaps? Volcanic? Volatile?How about...
Iman Vellani is a scene-stealer in low-stakes ‘The Marvels’
The stakes feel immensely low in “ The Marvels,” and it’s not because this is...
Matthew Broderick is the American everyman in La Jolla Playhouse’s ‘Babbitt’
Sometime after Donald Trump was elected in 2016 but before the pandemic arrived in 2020...
In ‘Radical,’ an unorthodox teacher in a violent Mexican border town
On their first day sixth grade, the students of Jose Urbina Lopez Elementary School in...
A serene debut from Raven Jackson in ‘All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt’
Nature provides much of the soundtrack to “ All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” a...
Locals shine at San Diego Asian Film Festival
Local filmmaker Emory Chao Johnson’s history with the San Diego Asian Film Festival began a...
Video game-to-horror flick ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ misfires badly
Just in time for Halloween comes “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” a video game adaptation with...
Teen dreams and adult nightmares in Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’
Dreamily gazing at the album covers of Elvis Presley was not, statistically speaking, a rare...
‘Persian Version’ finds laughter, tears in Iranian American tale of resilient women
Let nobody say writer-director Maryam Keshavarz doesn’t know how to start a movie.The first time...
A holiday movie with some bite in Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’
Alexander Payne brings audiences to a New England boarding school in 1970 in “ The...
Scorsese’s epic ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ is sweeping tale of greed, richly told
There tends to be lots of fast talking and fast moving in Martin Scorsese films,...
Familiar faces star in ‘To Fall in Love’ at San Diego International Film Festival
In “Celebrating the Power of Film” (its 2023 theme), the 22nd San Diego International Film...
Cinema Society of San Diego celebrates 40 years of movie magic
As Andy Friedenberg, founder of the Cinema Society of San Diego, reflects on the organization’s...
The Lot movie theaters in San Diego reopen following an abrupt closure a week ago
The Lot movie theaters, which abruptly closed all four of their California locations nearly a...
In the elated ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,’ every seat is the best seat in the house
It opens with a clock counting down until show time — the dropped stomach, rollercoaster...
New documentary recounts the ‘experimental’ early history of San Diego’s Patrick Henry High
When Patrick Henry High School opened its doors in the Del Cerro neighborhood 55 years...
In ‘Anatomy of a Fall,’ a sharp courtroom drama that will end relationships
Of all the ways that a relationship can end, a fundamental disagreement about a work...
‘The Exorcist: Believer’ doesn’t desecrate the original but it won’t compel you
There may be no holier ground in horror than “The Exorcist." As endlessly as William...
Check out ‘The Royal Hotel’ but don’t linger in this subtle horror flick
“The Royal Hotel” is a horror movie but don't expect any jump-cuts, scary masks or...
Her voice is lower, but Joan Baez has songs to sing and secrets to tell in new doc
Bob Dylan called it her “heart-stopping soprano,” and it’s true that when Joan Baez unleashed...
Humans take a back seat in the stunning AI, sci-fi epic ‘The Creator’
The artificial intelligence in Gareth Edwards’ “ The Creator,” a visually magnificent if by-the-books epic,...
Documentary ‘Carlos’ is a loving, respectful portrait of guitar god Santana
A new documentary on rock icon Carlos Santana begins with the legendary philosopher-guitarist asking a...
Talking Heads’ 1984 ‘Stop Making Sense’ returns: ‘It’s a specialized film,’ David Byrne told us at the time
Same as it ever was?In 1983, Talking Heads filmed three concerts and a rehearsal at...
St4llone, St4tham are back in ‘Expend4bles,’ yet another expend4ble sequel
It’s a throwaway line, but maybe a bit too meaningful, under the circumstances. “Gravity is...
A star-making turn for Eve Hewson in the feel-good ‘Flora and Son’
John Carney, the Irish filmmaker of “Once,” “Sing Street” and “Begin Again,” makes the movie...
An immigrant teen who wants to fit in enters a nightmare in ‘It Lives Inside’
A beautiful Indian American teen, Samidha (Megan Suri), just wants to fit in with her...
Talking Heads on the once-in-a-lifetime ‘Stop Making Sense,’ now back in theaters
TORONTO — You may find yourself in a movie theater with “Stop Making Sense” playing and the...
‘Cassandro,’ with Gael Garcia Bernal as a liberated luchador, is a winner
Anyone who has eagerly followed Gael Garcia Bernal since his breakthrough roles in “Amores Perros”...
Kenneth Branagh crafts a sumptuously spooky ‘A Haunting in Venice’
Kenneth Branagh indulges in the kind of macabre theatricality that only a crumbling Venetian palazzo...
Fall arts preview 2023: The movies we’re most excited about this fall, from Scorsese’s latest drama to the promising return of Willy Wonka
As we head into fall’s smart season, things are noticeably quieter: a sad circumstance of...
Movie Review: In ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,’ the wedding’s in Greece and the formula feels ancient
“We’re getting married!” This rather inevitable line crops up early in “My Big Fat Greek...
Movie Review: Oh, sister, what happened? ‘The Nun II’ is a face-plant horror splat
“The Conjuring” Universe celebrates 10 years in business this fall with the dull “The Nun...
Pinochet as a vampire in surreal, frightening ‘El Conde’
The Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is not dead in Pablo Larraín’s “El Conde.” He is...
Examining gay culture at the San Diego LGBTQ Film Festival
A documentary tribute to the cult favorite “Chasing Amy,” a retrospective on Hollywood’s bygone Studio...
Movie Review: Denzel Washington’s vigilante battles the Italian mafia in ‘Equalizer 3’
There's an awful lot of talk about the end of movie stars considering Denzel Washington...
ENVZN23: More than an arts festival, a collaboration between communities
A play inside a barber shop? A film festival at a gym? A journey around...
Movie Review: ‘Bottoms’ is a gonzo gay high-school comedy that comes out on top
The rites and rituals of the raunchy high-school comedy can be as prescribed as a...
Filmmakers behind biopic ‘Golda,’ starring Helen Mirren, get lost in a swirl of smoke
Golda Meir was many things — modern Israel’s first and only female head of government...
‘Blue Beetle’ takes DC in refreshing new direction
For Jaime Reyes — the Blue Beetle — being a superhero is a family affair....
Dogs go hunting for laughs on comedy’s mean streets with only moderate success
You know how raunchy comedies go. Hit and miss. One person’s laff riot is another...
Documentary ‘The Eternal Memory’ shows that love is stronger than dementia
“The Eternal Memory” begins with a confused Augusto Góngora waking up one morning as his...
‘Gran Turismo’ movie drifts into cliches and video game aesthetics
In 2006, a Nissan marketing executive had a truly insane idea to create a competition...
ion and love get messy in Ira Sachs’ smoldering ‘ages’
If you’ve been wondering where all the sex has gone from the movies, you’re in...
Comic-Con 2023: Immersive experiences take over downtown San Diego. Here are 7 you can’t miss
Major Hollywood studios might not be at San Diego Comic-Con International with actors, but they...
They’ve worked on every animated movie you’ve ever seen. Each came from San Diego.
When Joe Moshier was a student at Bell Middle School in San Diego, he once...
How a $200 bet on comics gave a father and son careers in politics and film
It was an intriguing offer. Two hundred dollars for the whole stock.Gary Kendrick was a...
There are more (illegal) Comic-Con building wraps than ever: Here’s where to find them
Major movie studios might be skipping big promotional s at Comic-Con International this year, but...
Legacy of Emilio Nares, 5, lives on 23 years after his ing
When Richard Nares made his 1,700-mile run from Seattle to San Diego in 2018, he...
Without much choice, Comic-Con goes back to its roots
It's hard to imagine now, but the nation's most popular comic book convention — San...
Your guide to San Diego’s Comic-Con International – from A to Z
Comic-Con International returns next week for four-plus days of s, exhibitions, outdoor activations and cosplayers...
Zoe Bernard of La Mesa acts with the stars in ‘Asteroid City’
A highlight of being in the cast of a Wes Anderson film was solving riddles...
Comic-Con 2023: Here’s your Sunday schedule
The final day of Comic-Con International on Sunday, July 23, at the San Diego Convention...
Comic-Con 2023: Here’s your Saturday schedule
It's Comic-Con International's biggest day Saturday, July 22, with a revitalized Star Trek franchise stealing...
Comic-Con 2023: Here’s your Friday schedule
Comic-Con International’s first big day Friday, July 21, will be all about big TV franchises....
The exuberantly rude ‘Joy Ride’ gives its stars the raunch-pad they deserve
A good gross-out gag is hardly a novelty in mainstream comedies, but there’s one in...
Comic-Con 2023: Here’s your Thursday schedule
The first official day of Comic-Con International starts on Thursday, July 20, with a Paramount...
Dissecting the shifting realities of ‘Lynch/Oz’ is not as easy as pie
When it comes to artists, influences aren’t always inspirations, and neither necessarily become explicit signposts...