Robert Levin

New York

Assistant Managing Editor at Newsday

Assistant managing editor @Newsday; former editor in chief @amNewYork. I also write about movies. St. Louis native. Springsteen fan.

Articles

'Fountain of Youth': A quest for creativity in film

2 weeks ago | newsday.com | Robert Levin

WHAT IT'S ABOUT John Krasinski and Natalie Portman star as siblings in the Apple TV+ action-adventure picture "Fountain of Youth," which is exactly the movie you think it is, no more and no less. Krasinski's an adventurer named Luke Purdue, hired by the billionaire Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson) to find the mythical fountain. Owen's dying of liver cancer, you see, and would love to take just one little sip.
Action-packed 'Duster' series set in 1972 Southwest

3 weeks ago | newsday.com | Robert Levin

WHAT IT'S ABOUT J.J. Abrams makes his return to television with "Duster," an eight-part action series that he cocreated with LaToya Morgan ("Shameless"). Set in 1972 in the Southwest, "Duster" stars Rachel Hilson ("This Is Us") as FBI agent Nina Hayes, tasked with taking down the Phoenix-area crime boss Ezra Saxton (Keith David). The key to her mission lies with making an informant out of Saxton's longtime, devoted driver Jim Ellis (Josh Holloway, who starred on Abrams' "Lost").
'Nonnas' offers heartwarming cinematic comfort food

4 weeks ago | newsday.com | Robert Levin

Watch Now • 2:18'It transcends to all cultures because it's about love'MOVIE "Nonnas"WHERE NetflixWHAT IT'S ABOUT "Nonnas" tells the story of the Staten Island restaurant Enoteca Maria, which features grandmothers from across cultures cooking their food for patrons on a revolving schedule. This weekend, for example, features grandmothers from Poland, China and Ukraine. Next weekend, the restaurant's calendar has a grandmother from Argentina and one cooking traditional Jewish food.
'Another Simple Favor' suffers from sequelitis

1 month ago | newsday.com | Robert Levin

MOVIE "Another Simple Favor"WHERE Prime VideoWHAT IT'S ABOUT Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively reprise their "A Simple Favor" roles in this sequel, arriving on Prime Video just shy of seven years after they scored a critical and commercial success with the original suburban black comedy. That movie effectively satirized the world of mommy vloggers, with a sleek noir touch to boot, but it didn't exactly leave you desperate for a sequel.
'Government Cheese' review: Arresting series about a parolee

1 month ago | newsday.com | Robert Levin

THE SERIES "Givernment Cheese"WHERE Streaming on Apple TV+; new episodes each WednesdayWHAT IT'S ABOUT No one could be blamed for happening upon a TV show called "Government Cheese" and rushing to keep scrolling. It's not a great title, to put it mildly. It also tells you nothing: the series has no tangible connection to the U.S. government's stockpile of the dairy product.
Viola Davis shines in action-packed 'G20' movie

1 month ago | newsday.com | Robert Levin

WHAT IT'S ABOUT When it comes to elevator pitches, it would be tough to do better: "Air Force One" meets "Die Hard," with Viola Davis as the president, beating the heck out of the bad guys. It's such an obvious hit that you have to wonder why it took so long to come to fruition.
'The Bondsman': Kevin Bacon shines in kitschy horror series

2 months ago | newsday.com | Robert Levin

SERIES "The Bondsman"WHERE Prime VideoWHAT IT'S ABOUT Kevin Bacon stars as a bounty hunter with the terrific name of Hub Halloran in "The Bondsman," a kitschy horror series on Prime Video. The Georgia-set story begins with Halloran being killed on the job by a couple of his targets. But then, all of a sudden, he's awake. Why is that, you ask? Well, it's because the devil needs him to utilize his bounty hunting skills to hunt down escaped demons from hell.
'Life List' review: Netflix movie is lifeless

2 months ago | newsday.com | Robert Levin

WHAT IT'S ABOUT Get a load of this. Mom cuts you out of your inheritance unless you watch a bunch of DVDs (yes, DVDs) she left behind, on which she provides a series of beyond-the-grave instructions for how you must fulfill the childhood dreams you wrote on a bucket list when you were a teenager. Want your share of that cosmetics company cash? You'd better take a shot at a stand-up comedy open-mic night. Want to keep your high-paying job with that company, which happens to be the family business?
'Great American Family': Jumble of emotions, perspectives

2 months ago | newsday.com | Robert Levin

WHAT IT'S ABOUT The adoption of Natalia Grace gets the limited series treatment in "Good American Family" on Hulu, not long after the premiere of the most recent season of "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace," the documentary series about the same story on Max. It's about Natalia, a girl born with a form of dwarfism, who is adopted by the Barnett family of Indiana in 2010 and then abandoned by them after they claimed she was not a prepubescent child, but actually an adult.
'The Electric State': Chaotic Netflix sci-fi adventure

2 months ago | newsday.com | Robert Levin

WHAT IT'S ABOUT The Netflix sci-fi movie "The Electric State" finds the Russo brothers of "Avengers: Endgame" fame telling the story of the aftermath of a war between humans and robots, in which the humans won. They did so because of a technological innovation called the neurocaster, spearheaded by the tech titan Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci), which allows for humans to control their own robots with their minds.