Nick Offerman is Terrific in “Hearts Beat Loud,” and Kiersey Clemons is a Rising Star
JULY 11, 2018 “Hearts Beat Loud” is an absolute charmer of a movie. By that, I don’t mean to minimize the film’s achievement. It sets out to charm (not…
Art House Review
Reviews of independent cinema
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” — A Moving Testament to the Power of Kindness
JULY 9, 2018 I never really knew a whole lot about Fred Rogers. Of course, I had heard of him and saw most of the parodies (particularly Eddie Murphy’s…
Ethan Hawke in “First Reformed” Marks a Welcome Return to Greatness for Paul Schrader
JULY 2, 2018 If you’re a fan of the films of the 1970s and 1980s, you’ll know the name Paul Schrader. He wrote the landmark script for the Martin…
“Disobedience,” Director Sebastián Lelio’s Follow-Up to “A Fantastic Woman,” Offers Another Powerful Take on Sexuality
MAY 22, 2018 Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio has had quite a year. In March, he won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film for “A Fantastic Woman,” a…
The Notorious “RBG” Gets Her Own Hit Documentary
MAY 17, 2018 The national box office returns got severely shaken up this weekend. It seems that a small documentary smashed into the national Top 10, just behind “Black…
Trans Actress Daniela Vega Shines in the Landmark Oscar Winner “A Fantastic Woman”
MARCH 15, 2018 I know that I swore that I had closed the door on 2017. But in the words of former Presidential confidante Hope Hicks, that was a…
Oscar Nominee “Call Me By Your Name” Is Every Bit As Romantically Powerful As You May Have Heard
FEBRUARY 21, 2018 I know that I’m a bad gay for waiting so long to review Best Picture nominee “Call Me By Your Name” (it’s been in theaters for…
Woody Allen’s “Wonder Wheel” Aspires To Be a 1950s “Blue Jasmine,” But It Misses By a Mile
DECEMBER 18, 2017 What the hell happened to Woody Allen’s writing? Yes, I know that he has recently had more bad movies than good (I’m thinking of “Irrational Man”…
Now Playing In Your Living Room — Mary J. Blige Shines in Dee Rees’ Powerful “Mudbound”
DECEMBER 6, 2017 One of the more pleasant surprises of this moviegoing year has been the growing quality of Netflix original films. Already we have had Noam Baumbach’s wonderful…
Richard Linklater’s “Last Flag Flying” — Three Veterans Hit the Road for Their Last Mission
NOVEMBER 13, 2017 Writer/director Richard Linklater is nothing if not wide-ranging in his taste. From the stoner comedy “Dazed and Confused,” the achingly romantic “Before…” trilogy and the Academy…
