Joe Friar is a member of the Critics Choice Association (Los Angeles) and the HFCS - Houston Film Critics Society. A lifelong fan of cinema, he co-founded the Victoria Film Society, Frels Fright Fest, and is a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic. His reviews can be heard on Hit Radio 104.7 KVIC and read in The Victoria Advocate newspaper. He is a fan of Foreign Films, Independent Cinema, and Horror movies and he enjoys letting readers and listeners know about small films that might slip through the cracks unnoticed.
After helming the sixth entry in The Conjuring Universe (“The Curse of La Llorona”), Michael Chaves takes the reins from James Wan to direct “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do it,” based on the files of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren played for the third time by … Read more
Proving that you can’t keep a good horse down, almost two decades after DreamWorks Animation brought audiences “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” the Kiger Mustang returns to the big screen in an all-new epic adventure based on the Netflix series “Spirit Riding Free,” which debuted in 2017.… Read more
The Emmas! The Fashion! The Music! “Cruella” is a vibrant, fun, cinematic triumph and the best live-action Disney film. Oscar winners Emma Stone and Emma Thompson are delightful to watch in the knock-down-drag-out couture battle of the century in Craig Gillespie’s origin story that takes us … Read more
There’s “Saturday Night Live” linkage in the new dramedy “Here Today” starring and directed by Billy Crystal who joined the cast of the sketch comedy show in 1984. Original SNL writer Alan Zweibel wrote the screenplay along with Crystal based on a personal experience he had which became the … Read more
From the producer of “Unfriended,” “Unfriended: Dark Web,” and “Searching” comes the latest thriller to utilize the Screenlife format where the entire film transpires over different screens including computer, tablet and cell phones. Valene Kane (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) plays a Briti… Read more
I’m detecting a doll fetish as director William Brent Bell follows up “The Boy” and “Brahms: The Boy II” with another horror film that features bigger adult-size dolls that haunt a Brooklyn brownstone in this not-so-scary tale of possession. Read more
As a kid growing up, I remember getting excited when Joe Raposo’s piano-driven “Sesame Street” theme hit the airwaves signifying the opening of another episode. There I was singing along, “Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away,” in anticipation of spending another hour with my television frien… Read more
Writer-director Neil Burger (“Divergent”) crafts a science fiction drama where teenagers govern themselves in this “Lord of the Flies” space odyssey featuring a solid cast of today’s rising stars led by Tye Sheridan (“Ready Player One”) and Lily-Rose Depp (“Crisis”). “Voyagers” takes place i… Read more
Just past the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdown, writer-director Ben Wheatley unveils his answer to the pandemic. “In the Earth” is the nightmare that you’d expect from the filmmaker that gave us “Kill List,” “A Field in England” and “High Rise.” Read more
While at NYU, writer-director Emma Seligman was told by a professor that she should write about something she knew for her finals. Sugar babies and shivas came to mind. What started out as a short film has now become Seligman’s feature debut and it’s funny as hell. “Shiva Baby” is centered o… Read more
Expectations are high as the clash of the titans is anticipated to jump-start the box office when “Godzilla vs Kong” opens in theaters this week. The special effects are fantastic and director Adam Wingard — who came highly recommended by Peter Jackson — delivers the action that moviegoers a… Read more
He’s older than Keanu Reeves yet younger than Liam Neeson — meet cinema’s newest middle-aged action star Emmy-winner Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”) who takes the everyman hero to the next level courtesy of “Hardcore Henry” director Ilya Naishuller and writer Derek Kolstad, the architect b… Read more
The best salesperson I ever met was a guy named Bob. He was older, chain-smoked like crazy, but as soon as he walked in a door the room would light up. He became close to his clients by getting to know them on a personal level. He would ask about family, sports and hobbies, and close with “O… Read more
Emile Hirsch and Andi Matichak in a scene from the horror film "Son" (image courtesy RLJE Films and Shudder) Read more
If you’ve been searching for the next “Hunger Games,” keep looking. “Chaos Walking” is not it. Adapted from the YA novel “The Knife of Never Letting Go” by author Patrick Hess, the film directed by Doug Liman features a stellar cast that includes a wasted Daisy Ridley, Tom Holland doing the … Read more
Eighty years after the MGM debut of Tom and Jerry, the beloved cat and mouse created by Hanna and Barbera return for a live-action/animation hybrid starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Michael Peña who interact with the 2-D animated characters under the roof of a luxurious New York City hotel. La… Read more
In honor of Black History Month, writer-director John Singleton’s 1991 debut “Boyz N the Hood” is headed back to theaters for a special 30th-anniversary screening as part of Turner Classic Movies’ Big Screen Classics. Read more
Let’s talk about Ashley Judd’s first starring role, 1993’s “Ruby in Paradise.” The film written, directed, and edited by Victor Nunez ("Gal Young 'Un," "A Flash of Green") won the Grand Jury Prize for Drama at the Sundance Film Festival and the late Roger Ebert picked the film as one of the … Read more
Chloé Zhao has become the voice of Americana. Her films focus on individuals with compassion and intestinal fortitude — the backbone of this nation. Her third feature stars Frances McDormand as a widow and modern-day nomad who lives out of her modified van while traversing the country lookin… Read more
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