By Bob Garver     A popular criticism I’ve heard about “The Smashing Machine” is that it tries too hard to subvert expectations. I assume that this is a reference to the way the film...

By Bob Garver     Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson is known as a top-tier talent without top-tier recognition. None of his movies have made more than $50 million at the domestic box...

By Bob Garver     Jokes linking football and religion, especially Christianity, are common. “One gets Americans to sit attentively for hours every Sunday, the other is religion.”...

By Bob Garver     NOTE: Many theaters have this Japanese animated film available in both “Subbed” and “Dubbed” versions. This review is based on the “Subbed” version – Japanese spoken with...

By Bob Garver     A few days before I saw “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” a friend of mine asked me about my plans for the weekend. I told her that I planned to see the film, and I was...

By Bob Garver     “Caught Stealing” is one of those twisty crime thrillers where it seems like the filmmakers cast as many interesting names as they could and then wrote the movie around...