“The Kitchen” is about three women who can handle the heat and still want out of the kitchen. They want to move into The Kitchen, as in Hell’s Kitchen, that peculiar slice of Manhattan in the 40s and 50s stretching from 8thAvenue west.
Author Archives: Eleanor Ringel Cater
Eleanor Ringel, Movie Critic, was the film critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for almost 30 years. She was nominated multiple times for a Pulitzer Prize. She won the Best of Cox Critic, IMAGE Film & Video and Women In Film awards. An Atlanta native, she graduated from Westminster and Brown University. She was the critic on WXIA’s Noonday, a member of Entertainment Weekly's Critics Grid and wrote TV Guide’s movie/DVD. She is member of the National Society of Film Critics and currently talks about movies on WMLB and writes the Time Out column for the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
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‘The Farewell’ – a Chinese-U.S. tale based on an actual lie
As offbeat and unique as its star, “The Farewell” offers a lot of the shaggy-dog weirdness of a Jim Jarmusch film.
Said star, Awkwafina (born Nora Lum), is an actress and rapper who made her movie breakthrough last summer with the one-two punch of “Ocean’s 8” and “Crazy Rich Asians.”
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‘Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood’ – ‘terrific’ movie belongs to Brad Pitt
You can’t say he didn’t warn us up front.
After all, Quentin Tarantino calls his newest film “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” which is, of course, not only an homage to Sergio Leone (“Once Upon a Time in the West,” Once Upon a Time in America”), but also the traditional way to start a fairy tale.
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‘Maiden’ – documents first female crew sailing the world
“The sea is always trying to kill you,” says Tracy Edwards at the beginning of the documentary, “Maiden,” about the first ever all-female crew to compete in the Whitbread round-the-world sailing race.
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‘Midsommar’ – a deeply unsettling horror movie
If nothing else, “Midsommar” may make you re-think that Scandinavian vacation you’ve been considering.
As anyone who saw last year’s shocking “Hereditary” knows, filmmaker Ari Aster doesn’t fool around. “Midsommar” is a horror movie and a half.
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‘The Fall of the American Empire’ – falls short in every way
“The Fall of the American Empire” does only one thing well: fall apart.
Gracelessly. Stupidly. And without a shred of self-awareness.
The Canadian director Denys Arcand, who may be one of the most pompous and annoying filmmakers in the northern hemisphere, has concocted a cretinous crime caper that seems strung together from bits and pieces of every ‘70s cop show ever made.
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‘Yesterday’ – a ‘charmingly nostalgic’ movie of a Beatles-less world
I believe in “Yesterday.”
I didn’t think I would. I’d seen the trailers and it sounded like a clever but one-gimmick movie. However, while it doesn’t do everything right, “Yesterday” sometimes takes your breath away. Not bad for a mid-summer non-superhero movie
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‘The Dead Don’t Die’ – most of the movie is ‘watchable’
Indeed, the dead don’t die in Jim Jarmusch’s aptly-titled, “The Dead Don’t Die.”
Neither does the director’s trademark deadpan, which has somehow managed to keep him afloat with movie cultists since his debut movie, “Stranger Than Paradise,” which premiered at the New York Film Festival in 1984.
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‘Late Night’ – Emma Thompson is movie’s ace in the hole
“Late Night” is both too little and too late.
I say that regretfully. The idea of a workplace comedy attuned to #MeToo and #TimesUp would certainly be welcome, especially in the summer when Hollywood all but posts signs saying “No Girls Allowed.”
But writer/star Mindy Kaling simply hasn’t come up with the goods.
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‘The Souvenir’ – Tilda Swinton and her daughter play drab roles
“The Souvenir” is a portrait of the artist as a young doormat.Set in London in the ‘80s (i.e., no computers, cellphones, but the occasional IRA attack at Harrods), the movie features Tilda Swinton, looking as close to ordinary as you’ve ever seen her, and her real-life daughter, Honor Swinton Byrne, here cast as her movie daughter, Julie.
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‘Rocketman’ – a jukebox version of Elton John, who deserves more
Going in, you already know that last year’s unexpected hit, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” would be either the best thing or the worst thing to happen to “Rocketman,” the new Elton John movie.The parallels are so strong: similar time frames, similar problems (being gay in a pre-woke world), similar storylines (success is more likely to bring cocaine than happiness).
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‘All is True’ – an older Shakespeare struggles in retirement
Imagine Shakespeare, not in love, but up to his ears in inducements from AARP.That’s the framework, more or less, for Kenneth Branagh’s “All Is True,” a look at the Bard in retirement.The year is 1613. His beloved Globe Theatre has burned to the ground and the playwright takes that as a sign it’s time to move back to the country and retire in the…um…loving?…bosom of his family.
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‘The White Crow’ – film spotlights Russian ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev
“The White Crow” is so-so which, given what it’s trying to do, is almost a rave. Some geniuses seem replicable on film. I’ve bought versions of Orson Welles, Marilyn Monroe. And Elvis. But I’m not so sure how I’d do with a Brando or a Hepburn (Katharine or Audrey). Or a Rudolph Nureyev.
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‘Tolkien’ – a pretty, but dull, film about J.R.R. Tolkien
A much better title for the squishily disappointing new bio-flick, “Tolkien” would be “Bored of the Rings.”Oh, how I wish I’d made that up myself, but it’s stolen from a National Lampoon parody that came out around 1970 when the author’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy was at the height of its popularity on college campuses.
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‘Red Joan’ – Judi Dench stars in disappointing espionage tale
“I don’t want a lawyer,” protests Judi Dench in the first scene of “Red Joan.” “I haven’t done anything wrong.”Oh, but she has. She’s done this movie.
A fictionalized account of the life of British spy, Melita Norwood – here called Joan Stanley – played in old age, by Dench and played in full bloom of her espionage career by Sophie Cookson.
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‘Avengers: Endgame’ – a pretty darn good movie from Marvel
There isn’t enough Loki. In fact, there is maybe, at most, 45 seconds of Loki.
“Avengers: Endgame” is, in every way, Loki deficient. Otherwise, it’s a pretty darn good movie.
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‘The Chaperone’ – predictable tale of a prude who loosens up
“The Chaperone” is a rigged shell game. It lures you in with Louise Brooks, the charismatic silent-film legend best known for “Pandora’s Box,” and proceeds to tell you this tedious fictional tale about the woman who accompanied Brooks from Wichita to New York where the incipient Ultimate Jazz Baby found – what else? –fame and fortune.At least the movie can claim truth in advertising. It is, after all, called “The Chaperone.”
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‘The Aftermath’ – a post-war love triangle that falls flat
“The Aftermath” is the sort of movie about which somebody will inevitably write, “They don’t make ‘em like this anymore.”“The Aftermath” is a good reason why.Tepid, obvious, uninvolving, “The Aftermath” proves that, yes, in the shadow of World War II, the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans unless, they’re named Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Heinreid and they’re hanging out in Casablanca.
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‘Best of Enemies’ – a well-acted civil rights story worth telling
In a way “The Best of Enemies” could be likened to a made-for-TV version of “The Green Book.” But even if that’s meant as a compliment from a flat-out fan of the recent Oscar winner (which I am), it’s still a bit demeaning. Though the movies share a Civil Rights theme and a first-they-bicker-then-they bond plot, “The Best of Enemies” has its own distinct voice. That’s due, for the most part, to its pair of high-powered stars, Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell.
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‘Gloria Bell’ – Julianne Moore stars in thrilling character study
How good is Julianne Moore?So good that even when she’s sitting with her back to the camera, you can’t take your eyes off her.That’s how she’s introduced in Sebastian Lelio’s quietly moving and intelligent “Gloria Bell,” a remake of his 2013 Chilean film. We’re at a seemingly mythical singles bar catering to the middle-aged. Gloria, who’s been divorced for over a decade, goes there often. She likes the drinks, she likes the music and she likes – loves– to dance. If she meets a guy there, well, that’s okay, too.
