“The Greatest Showman” is Quite a Show But is Not So Great
JANUARY 3, 2018 In 2004, I had the enormous pleasure of seeing Hugh Jackman live on stage, giving it his all on Broadway in the musical “The Boy from…
Biography
“The Disaster Artist” — A Perfectly Wonderful Film About a Perfectly Dreadful Movie
DECEMBER 27, 2017 Have you ever seen “The Room”? I hadn’t either, so I decided to Netflix the legendary 2003 midnight movie a couple of weeks ago so that…
Gary Oldman Will Likely Bellow His Way to an Oscar for “Darkest Hour”
DECEMBER 7, 2017 Ever since “Darkest Hour” premiered in September in Telluride, the word was out that Gary Oldman was a shoo-in to win the Oscar for Best Actor…
“The Lost City of Z” — A Brave Explorer Sails Into the Depths of the Amazon Jungle. But Why?
APRIL 26, 2017 One of the several movie genres that has blessedly disappeared from the nation’s theater screens is the jungle movie. By that, I don’t mean “Apocalypse Now”…
Terence Davies Breathes New Life Into Emily Dickinson in “A Quiet Passion”
APRIL 25, 2017 The question might be asked: do we really need an Emily Dickinson film? If that film is Terence Davies’ “A Quiet Passion,” the answer is definitely…
Natalie Portman in “Jackie,” A Film That Has Balls of Steel
JANUARY 25, 2017 As Tuesday’s Academy Awards nominations demonstrated, there are a number of 2016 films that have definitely taken some chances. Best Documentary nominee “O.J.: Made in America”…
“Florence Foster Jenkins” — The Singer Doesn’t Hit the Right Notes, But the Film Usually Does
AUGUST 29, 2016 If you had never heard of the remarkable true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, you have no excuse now. Already the subject of a Broadway drama…
“The End of the Tour” — A Portrait of the Artist as a Troubled Man
AUGUST 27, 2015 On September 12, 2008, novelist David Foster Wallace hanged himself in his garage. The author of the acclaimed novel “Infinite Jest” was 46. Wallace went on an…
“Straight Outta Compton” More Than Your Usual Musical Biopic
AUGUST 18, 2015 I suppose it’s encouraging that a whole new generation of pre- and young teens know Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. What is not so hopeful is that…
