About the author
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.
We all know that Liam Neeson has “a very particular set of skills” and in “Honest Thief” from director Mark Williams (“Ozark”), they include robbing banks, taking down crooked FBI agents and breaking hearts. Read more
What should have been a peaceful demonstration outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention turned violent as tens of thousands of anti-Vietnam War protesters clashed with Chicago police and the Illinois National Guard resulting in hundreds of injuries and arrests. Read more
“On the Rocks” is Sofia Coppola’s love letter to New York City. A charming adventure that reminds us why we fell in love with the Big Apple. The vibrant city provides the backdrop for amateur sleuths, Felix, a playboy art dealer played by Bill Murray, and his daughter Laura (Rashida Jones) w… Read more
On the 15th anniversary of Fantastic Fest — the annual Austin film festival filled with feature premieres, secret screenings, themed parties, and tons of Q&A sessions with actors and directors —this year’s event has been moved online due to the pandemic but promises to deliver plenty of … Read more
Sept. 22 was National Voter Registration Day. Nearly 3 million people have signed up to vote on the civic holiday since it began in 2012. Not everyone, however, will get a chance to vote in the upcoming Nov. 3 election and it’s not because they didn’t register. It could be due to the fact th… Read more
Of the different fables that exist surrounding the name of Knockemstiff, Ohio — the setting for Antonio Campos’ (“Christine”) new film — two of them involve a preacher and one involves a brawl. They all seem appropriate as Tom Holland unleashes his fury on a few nefarious souls as the Avenge… Read more
Every 10 years Christopher Nolan throws us a head-trip—I like to call it cerebral cinema. It began with the puzzling noir thriller “Memento” in 2000. A decade later he gave us the psychological espionage film “Inception” and now, just like clockwork, the auteur unleashes his most complex wor… Read more
Mention the word “Fátima” to a Catholic and most will understand the reference. In 1917, in Fátima, Portugal, 10-year-old Lúcia and her two younger cousins Jacinta and Francisco, were visited by the Virgin Mary. She appeared to the children over a period of six months — her message — prayer … Read more
There’s a lot riding on Charlie Plummer’s performance in the mental illness drama, “Words on Bathroom Walls.” Read more
Russell Crowe is known simply as “The Man” in the new action-suspense film “Unhinged” as the Academy Award-winning actor delivers a performance that’s evil personified. If your anxiety level isn’t already elevated because of the current pandemic, the first five minutes will take care of that. Read more
Plenty of good films are available to watch at home this weekend. Here are four new releases that I highly recommend. You can read full reviews on my Victoria Advocate blog at https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/users/profile/jfriar/ Read more
Fear is the mind-killer in writer-director Amy Seimetz’s “She Dies Tomorrow” which reunites the actress and filmmaker with her “Sun Don’t Shine” star Kate Lyn Sheil. Blending elements of horror and comedy, the film is focused on a psychological contagion–paranoia–which begins with recovering… Read more
In the new National Geographic documentary, Ron Howard documents a town rising like a phoenix from the ashes of the most destructive wildfire in California history. On November 8, 2018, the foothill town of Paradise was ravaged by the Camp Fire. 85 people lost their lives and 95% of the stru… Read more
Take a hopeless romantic, director Andy Tennant, and pair him up with self-help author Rhonda Byrne, whose book “The Secret” has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and you have the beginning of a modern fairy tale that’s long overdue. Read more
Actor Dave Franco is known for his comedies including “Neighbors” and “The Disaster Artist,” and then there’s that great cameo in “If Beale Street Could Talk.” In a move similar to Romola Garai (“Amulet”), Franco steps outside his wheelhouse to jump behind the camera for the first-rate thril… Read more
From the gothic-style red lettering to the angelic score fit for a requiem mass, “Amulet” recalls the horror films of the 70s that graced drive-in screens across the country. At the same time, the directorial debut by actress Romola Garai feels like it’s in the Clive Barker wheelhouse. The s… Read more
You can add Bora Kim to the list of distinguished directors from South Korea, a country renowned for producing beautiful and haunting films thanks to filmmakers that include Lee Chang-dong, Park Chan-wook, Im Sang-soo, and Bong Joon-ho who gave us last year’s Oscar-winning Best Picture “Parasite.” Read more
There are plenty of good films to watch at home this weekend. Here are three new releases that I highly recommend. You can read full reviews on my Victoria Advocate blog at https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/users/profile/jfriar/ Read more
The problem with “The Sunlit Night” is that despite all indicators pointing to romantic comedy, the film is devoid of romance. First, you have Jenny Slate as an artist dealing with a breakup headed to scenic Norway, a good start. Second, there are three single guys where she’s going (played … Read more
French Canadian directors Sébastien Landry and Laurence Morais-Lagace go from graphic sex to graphic gore for their feature film debut “Game of Death.” Clocking in at a brisk 74-minutes, the horror-comedy involves a group of millennials who discover a board game that gives the film its title… Read more
I’ve put together this list of new movies available to stream or rent. These are films that I can recommend that range from superheroes to World War II drama, a slice of the American Frontier, and a dark comedy that takes place in Chinatown. You can read full reviews on my Victoria Advocate … Read more
First-time director Natalie Erika James uses dementia associated with Alzheimer’s as the basis for her horror debut “Relic.” Read more
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