Joe Leydon

The next time you hear someone complain that they sure don’t make them like they used to, point them in the direction of “Accidental Texan,” an unapologetically old-fashioned feel-good dramedy that, with a few minor tweaks, could pass as a newly rediscovered family-friendly feature from the mid-1970s. Back then, the lead roles probably would have […]

If Sergio Leone had ever signed on to make one of those ’70s Blaxploitation oaters that once provided steady employment for Fred Williamson, it likely would have looked and sounded much like “Outlaw Posse,” a wildly uneven but cumulatively entertaining shoot-’em-up that finds Mario Van Peebles doing triple duty as director, screenwriter and star. Quadruple […]

Popular on Variety It’s altogether likely that many non-Indigenous people knew nothing about the abuse and disappearances of Native American children that occurred over decades in residential Indian schools throughout North America until those outages inspired a wrenchingly potent subplot last year for the Taylor Sheridan-produced TV series “1923.” But the truth behind that fact-based […]

Popular on Variety How far will you go to deny your identity in order to be a somebody? What happens when you make a deal with a devil whom you might normally despise, but has transfixed much of an entire nation’s population? And how long can you will yourself to ignore evidence of the intolerable? […]

You have to give the makers of “Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia” credit for their honesty in describing their “inspired by true events” drama. Not only do they offer twice in the closing credits the standard disclaimers about invoking dramatic license and inventing some characters out of whole cloth. To make sure we fully […]

It’s been a bit more than a year since “Butcher’s Crossing” premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, but the timing of its theatrical release could hardly be more propitious. Director Gabe Polsky’s grimly fatalistic Western has finally arrived at the megaplexes just days after the PBS airing of “The American Buffalo,” Ken Burns’ fascinating (and […]

The “Rocky” series continues apace, even after Rocky himself has thrown in the towel, as Michael B. Jordan returns as Adonis Creed for “Creed III,” the latest installment in what might best be described as a spinoff franchise. How long can this go on? Well, consider this: At the very end of the new film, […]

“High Heat” is a hoot. Though it may sound in synopsis like standard-issue genre fare suitable for quick-serve consumption on digital and streaming platforms, this satisfying mashup of crime thrill…

Despite some ambitious efforts by director Jessica M. Thompson and screenwriter Blair Butler to revitalize hoary horror movie tropes with allegorical commentary on race, class and male privilege, “…

For those of you who have always wanted to see Juliette Binoche play a foul-mouthed truck driver — and you know who you are — “Paradise Highway” delivers the goods, and then some. This counterintui…