Ricky Miller, Entertainment Editor
| March 7, 2023
“PADDINGTON” (2014) -- This comic family-adventure is based on a children’s book and comes from the same producers who handled the Harry Potter universe. This one is a pure joy for the entire family, save for those who don’t like marmalade sandwiches. A-
“HIS DARK MATERIALS” (2019-2022) -- This one is based on the same story as “The Golden Compass,” wherein one and done stifled the planned trilogy of features altogether. This one was turned into a successful HBO Max series that features a fantasy world with talking polar bears and a young girl named Lyra. Dafne Keen
is excellent in the role. A-
Ricky Miller, Entertainment Editor
| March 7, 2023
“Cocaine Bear,” directed by Elizabeth Banks, features one of the last turns from Ray Liotta, one of my all-time favorite actors. He was stellar in “Goodfellas,” director Martin Scorsese’s Oscar winner. In fact, this movie is dedicated to Liotta. As I have stated in the past, I am not a fan of horror movies, but when it comes to the horror comedies, I am in like Flint.
This movie is just sheer silliness. In any movie dealing with death, you’re supposed to feel empathy for the characters. But when it comes to the knuckleheads in “Cocaine Bear,” who cares? This is loosely based on a true story and loosely based on cinematic stupidity. Still, it was a lot of fun and it made me laugh.
From the first scene, “Halloween Ends” is a disjointed mess of ridiculous ideas and antics. The setting is the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois, four years after the events that occurred in “Halloween Kills” (2021).
With this sequel and official end to the franchise, the end of the gravy train ends with this tale. I even stuck around to make sure there was no stinger at the end of this misguided mess.
“Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn” (1987) -- The great Sam Raimi directed this horror-comedy. Our hero, Ash (Bruce Campbell ), fights the undead in a cabin in the woods. A-
“Addams Family Values” (1993) -- This fantasy-comedy made me laugh and chuckle all the way through. When a fellow camper asks why Wednesday (Christina Ricci ) is dressed all in black, she just states, “Wait.” B-
