At times, the best of intentions go oft astray, such is the case with Denzel Washington’s foray into today’s ambiguous legal milieu; he is a throwback to the world of Angela Davis, Artis Gilmore, James Baldwin; he is a righteous savant with principles intact, but flounders when his partner dies, and discovers the financial roots of his practice are made ... Read More »
“Being different isn’t a bad thing. It means you’re brave enough to be yourself. “Auggie Pullman” (Jacob Tremblay) isn’t given a choice; born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, which affects facial development, he hides beneath an astronaut’s helmet and has been home schooled by his mother “Isabel” (Julia Roberts); he is ten years old and going to school for the first ... Read More »
Frances McDormand is an unprecedented force, a presence, not to be tinkered with, terrifying in her role as “Mildred Hayes”, distraught, grieving mother, crippled emotionally, chastising the minimal police force, especially “Chief Willoughby” (Woody Harrelson Harrelson gives a surprisingly empathetic performance) in their lack of initiative, in capturing the culprit who savagely murdered her daughter “Angela” (Kathryn Newton) seven months ... Read More »
Director/writer Richard Linklater’s “Last Flag Flying” is one of the finest “road trip” films ever to grace the screen, slipping stunningly into the realm of: “Rain Man”, “Thelma and Louise”, “Little Miss Sunshine”,”Motorcycle Diaries”, “Nebraska”; stratospheric performances by Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston and Lawrence Fishburne, three Vietnam veterans, after a thirty year hiatus, travel to Arlington cemetery to bury “Larry’s” ... Read More »
Winner of Cannes highest accolade, Palme d’ Or, Swedish director (“Force Majeure”) Ruben Ostlund’s “The Square” is staggering in its execution; expectations, never realized; pungent metaphors; it’s only flaw, colossal ambition. Sensual, “imperially slim”, Claes Bang depicts “Christian”, as a charmingly caddish director of a Swedish contemporary museum; spewing innocuous, “art-speak” pervasive in today’s artsy, rarefied vacuum; “Anne”, an American ... Read More »
If you’ve imbibed and remember Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name, seen 1974’s Sidney Lumet’s film version, or television’s 2001 interpretation, pass on this slice of redundancy; with the exception of exquisite cinematography (Hans Zambarloukos) and Kenneth Branagh’s (also directed) superb depiction of iconic detective “Hercule Poirot” staleness prevents this “train” from reaching its maximum speed. Fine actors (Michelle ... Read More »
There is a substantive, grounded sensitivity that saves “Lady Bird” from becoming another formulaic “coming of age” film; Greta Gerwig, more than her acting acuity, is an outstanding writer/director; at the age of thirty-four she’s advanced beyond the Mumblecore genre (hand-held camera technique, low budget, an ad-lib dialogue infused with a plethora of nerve-wracking “like’s”, hemorrhaging from millennials vernacular, into ... Read More »
A searing commentary on the milieu of the Catholic Church and its intransigent, grueling dictates, regarding young women (novitiates) in their quest to bind forever, becoming “Brides of Christ”, with a Supreme Being, worthy of a lifetime of silence, sacrifice and prayer. The year is 1964 in the midst of the Vatican II Council (1962-1965); roiling, controversial times which changed ... Read More »
There is overwhelming beauty in Stephen Cone’s wonderfully crafted “Princess Cyd”; a successful, middle-aged author, “Miranda” (a character inspired by writer Marilynne Robinson); Rebecca Spence’s glowing, breathtaking performance, infused with wisdom and finesse anchors the film. She invites her sixteen-year-old niece, “Cyd” (Jessie Pinnick is equal to the pairing) to spend a portion of the summer in her Chicago home; ... Read More »
Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos’s (“Dogtooth”, “Lobster”) newest, mystifying and cerebral film, resonates with references from Homer’s “Iliad” (8th century BC.); Iphigenia, King Agamemnon’s daughter sacrificed for the war effort against Trojans; and the inadvertent killing, by same Agamemnon, of goddess’ Artemis “sacred deer”; mythological deities excel in catastrophic vengeance, without boundaries, flowing from Mount Olympus embracing both divinities and earthlings ... Read More »
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