If somebody’s got to swash and buckle, hey, it might as well be Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow to continue Disney’s moneymaking, Pirates of the Caribbean series. This one is tagged Dead Men Tell No Tales, and what a whopper of a lie that is. Directed by Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg from the screenplay by Jeff Nathanson, this fifth installment of the march that…

In Black Mass, Johnny Depp has evil down cold

Quite the block in South Boston that was that gave the world the Bulger brothers and John Connolly. Black Mass tells the tale with a deep and horrible chill. Directed by Scott Cooper by a script from Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, this crime drama documentary is 122 minutes full of high ambition and low…

Johnny Depp hurt Down Under

So while in Australia filming the fifth edition of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, Johnny Depp hurt his hand. I discovered this disconcerting news while compiling my weekly Film News blog posted every Thursday morning on the Syracuse New Times site. You can read where that revelation led me by clicking the link below.…

On the wake of a farcical ‘Mortdecai,’ how do you prefer your movie humor?

Johnny Depp goes deep in his comedy closet in “Mortdecai,” while Gwyneth Paltrow as his wife is funny while using different tools. You can read my take about the farce directed by David Koepp from a screenplay by Eric Aronson as today’s weekly Film Blog review post on the Syracuse New Times site by clicking…

Can an actor make you laugh with just one word?

A few times now, the funny-looking man at the front desk of a big city hotel has recited his name and a word that you don’t hear much these days. It’s a trailer for a movie that’s opening on Jan. 23. The make-up job is good, because the actor is Johnny Depp. He’s the title…

As ‘John Wick’ gets good reviews, Keanu Reeves has a beef

Everything is relative. So when Cinema Blend comes out with a story on the week that the movie “John Wick,” starring Keanu Reeves, will hit the theaters with the news that all is not great in Mr. Reeves’ world, well, I’m not rushing out there to Hollywood holding out my box of Kleenex. Still. I…

The offspring of Depp, Smith get juicy roles

Kevin Smith wrote it. Johnny Depp stars in it. “Yoga Hosers” sounds pretty cool right off the bat, does it not? I saw the name of the film and thought: What the … It’s the story of two 15-year-old yoga lovers, both named Colleen, who work at a Manitoba convenience story. They’re played by the…

Is that another ‘Big Fat Greek Wedding’ you’re spying on, Houdini?

A dozen years ago, somebody rolled the dice on the ideas of Nia Vardolas, to the tune of $5 million. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” came out. America loved it. The world loved it. People got rich. And I’m not talking about Greek food feasts. As in, cha-ching for the biggest grossing romantic comedy ever.…