Best Actor — Ten Performances To Put On Your Oscar Radar
OCTOBER 16, 2015 In my first two Oscar columns, I highlighted 16 films that currently stand the best chance of making that potential 10-film cut for Best Picture. Happily,…
Author: tomobrien1536
The Nobel Peace Prize-Winner Deserves a Better Documentary Than “He Named Me Malala”
OCTOBER 15, 2015 There’s a legend of an Afghani hero in 1880 named Malala. In the Battle of Maiwand against the English invaders, the Afghanis began to lose heart…
The Democratic Debate — Round 1: What Happened in Vegas…
OCTOBER 14, 2015 Photo: REUTERS On Tuesday night, it was the Democrats’ turn. After two highly-watched debates among the GOP contenders, the five Democratic candidates met last night onstage…
Still Luminous, Gong Li Is Reunited with Director Zhang Yimou in the Heartbreaking “Coming Home”
OCTOBER 13, 2015 Melodrama has become quite a dirty word in film criticism circles. If a film is “melodramatic,” that usually translates into “wrenching tears for the cheapest possible…
Johnny Depp Gives a Steely Performance in the Otherwise Forgettable “Black Mass”
OCTOBER 9, 2015 As a transplant from New England to Southern California, I was stunned in 2011 when I heard that James (don’t call him Whitey) Bulger, the legendary…
Ben Carson: When Is Someone in the Media Going to Call Out This Guy?
OCTOBER 8, 2015 If you were asked which Republican candidate has made the most outrageous comments in this campaign, you’d likely say Donald Trump. Yes, the billionaire has crossed…
With an Unsettling View of the War on Drugs, the Thrilling “Sicario” Is One of the Year’s Very Best
OCTOBER 7, 2015 The first five minutes of “Sicario” are among the most suspenseful I’ve experienced in a film in years. An FBI Special Weapons & Tactics unit, led…
Did House Speaker-in-Waiting McCarthy’s Gaffe Blow the GOP Strategy on Benghazi?
OCTOBER 6, 2016 It looks like there’s an old fashioned GOP food fight a’comin’. And surprise! It’s not in the Presidential race. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) issued…
Matt Damon Heads a Stellar Cast in Ridley Scott’s Rousing Space Adventure “The Martian”
OCTOBER 5, 2015 Have I got a movie for you. It’s about a U.S. astronaut who finds himself stranded alone on the Red Planet who must use his wits…
“Stonewall” — It Breaks My Heart To Say It, But It’s Just Awful
OCTOBER 2, 2015 I hate to kick a man when he’s down, and director Roland Emmerich is really down. Perhaps the most financially successful gay director ever, Emmerich has helmed…
