Lou Lumenick
Latest Articles
An accidental classic, 'Casablanca' turns 75
Everyone may come to Rick’s Café Américain, but 75 years ago, no one was happy to be there. And they certainly didn’t think “Casablanca” was a hit, much less an...
My best memories of 17 years as The Post's film critic
Today, I retire from The Post 48 years after I first walked into its newsroom — located in 1968 on West Street, just south of where the World Trade Center...
'Deepwater Horizon' is a lot of fun, seriously
Peter Berg’s “Deepwater Horizon” is this year’s ultimate guilty pleasure at the movies. This $156 million action film about a real-life 2010 blowout on an oil rig that killed 11...
Denzel Washington is perfect for 'The Magnificent Seven'
Denzel Washington makes a belated but splendid debut as a Western hero in Antoine Fuqua’s action-packed, multicultural reimagining of John Sturges’ 1960 semi-classic, which in truth is best remembered for...
Toronto Film Fest reveals major Oscars contenders
TORONTO — Can Natalie Portman win Best Actress again by channeling Jackie Kennedy? Will an old-school show-business musical starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone wow Oscar voters, and can “Slumdog...
The verdict on Netflix's new Amanda Knox doc
TORONTO — “Either I’m a psychopath in sheep’s clothing — or I am you,” Amanda Knox declares in a new documentary that details the lengths to which a bungling, publicity-hungry...
Tom Hanks is perfect in the thrilling 'Sully'
"Sully" breathtakingly depicts what may be the most remarkable half-hour in NYC history. Six minutes after taking off from LaGuardia Airport on Jan. 15, 2009, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (a...
Jerry Lewis should have passed on 'Max Rose'
Two decades after his last film, the legendary Jerry Lewis performs a truly unfortunate encore playing an elderly widower in writer-director Daniel Noah’s morose and thoroughly unconvincing drama. After the...
If Polanski can win an Oscar, then ‘Birth of a Nation’ can still get nominated
Will Oscar voters really treat a black director acquitted of rape charges more harshly than admitted rapist Roman Polanski, who went on to win a Best Director award a quarter-century...
'Ben-Hur' is an epic disaster
The first two major big-screen versions of “Ben-Hur” were huge hits, with the second one, from 1959, winning 11 Oscars, including Best Picture. The third time’s definitely not the charm...
How the iconic Hollywood sign led to a starlet's death
The Hollywood sign is one of America’s most iconic landmarks — but it started out in 1923 as a temporary billboard for a mountaintop real estate development called Hollywoodland. “They...
'Florence Foster Jenkins' proves bad singing makes a good movie
“How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!’’ goes the old joke. But in Stephen Frears’ delightful, semicomedic biopic “Florence Foster Jenkins,’’ all the eccentric heiress/philanthropist of the title needed...
Inside Cary Grant's secret life with men
Ninety years ago, future screen legend Cary Grant shared a Greenwich Village love nest with an Australian man who went on to win three Oscars. That’s the provocative claim in...
'Lights Out' is a freaky mother-daughter ghost story
Swedish filmmaker David F. Sandberg makes an impressive feature debut with this spooky, less-is-more expansion of his short that landed him this first Hollywood gig. The simple, highly effective gimmick...
Bryan Cranston and drugs — together again in 'The Infiltrator'
Bryan Cranston — a Best Actor Oscar nominee for “Trumbo” — continues his rewarding post-“Breaking Bad’’ big-screen career with another juicy real-life role in the highly entertaining “The Infiltrator.” Moving...
'Captain Fantastic' is one of the year's best movies
Ben is a survivalist who home-schools his six children in a yurt in a pristine Pacific Northwest forest, far from the corrupting influences of contemporary society. Played by a bearded...
A gorgeous starlet, an ugly death – and a White House scandal
Beautiful Florence LaBadie was one of the first actresses to be identified by name in the advertising for her popular movies. Tragically, she would also be billed as the first...
Spielberg's 'BFG' does Dahl right
Set in a fantasy version of the 1980s in which the queen of England is more worried about child-eating giants than her country’s future economic meltdown, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of...
'Independence Day' sequel is a joyless snoozefest
What’s happened in the 20 years since “Independence Day’’ delighted audiences? Well, for one thing, scientific genius Jeff Goldblum is now older than Judd Hirsch was when he played Goldblum’s...
Everything you need to know about NYC outdoor summer movies
If there’s one thing New Yorkers love even more than outdoor concerts, it’s outdoor movies. If you’re willing to travel, you can easily see a different flick each night —...