Reviews of independent cinema
APRIL 2, 2020 The real-life drama, “The Banker,” is Apple TV+’s first foray into motion picture production, and like most of the programming I’ve seen so far on the…
FEBRUARY 21, 2020 Producer Matt Ratner’s feature directorial debut is a small but charming film that bills itself as “a comedy about second chances” – a bit of truth-in-advertising…
DECEMBER 31, 2019 If the Michael B. Jordan-starring film “Just Mercy” is a glorification of how well the criminal justice system can work, Chinonye Chukwu’s film “Clemency” is just…
DECEMBER 31, 2019 Céline Sciamma’s exquisite drama “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is ostensibly about the nature of art, but it is actually about the nature of love.…
DECEMBER 23, 2019 Watching Eddie Murphy’s brilliant hosting job this past weekend on “Saturday Night Live,” I was reminded his great return to movies this fall in the comedy…
DECEMBER 21, 2019 I love “What if?” movies. Quentin Tarantino has been dealing with revising history in “Inglorious Basterds” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” and the results…
DECEMBER 9, 2019 Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” begins with the voice of Charlie Barber (Adam Driver) extolling the many reasons why she loves his wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) —…
DECEMBER 3, 2019 Though animation fans certainly know the work of the great Japanese animator Hiyao Miyazaki and his famed workplace Studio Ghibli from such films as the Oscar-winning…
NOVEMBER 29, 2019 “The Irishman” may be set in the world of gangsters, but it’s not really about crime. When all is said and done, it is a melancholy…
OCTOBER 30, 2019 Pedro Almodóvar is back. “Pain and Glory” is the 21st film by the acclaimed Spanish writer/director who won an Oscar for writing 2002’s “Talk To Her”…
