Category: Eleanor Ringel Cater

I was so looking forward to “Benediction,” a film about the British World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon. Then I saw it was written and directed by Terence Davies.

You don’t need to know Jack Nicklaus from Jack Nicholson to enjoy ”The Phantom of the Open,” a quirky British underdog comedy in the tradition of mid-century Ealing movies.  

Tom Robbins had the right idea. Even cowgirls get the blues in the understated yet oddly mesmerizing documentary – “Bitterbrush.”

“This is crazy,” says Evelyn (Michelle Yuen), a seemingly ordinary housewife beleaguered by laundry and taxes.

In the real world, J.K. Rowling is having her problems. Alas, in the Wizarding World she first created with her Harry Potter books, all is not exactly well either. 

“Weekend at Bernie’s” meets “The Imitation Game” in “Operation Mincemeat,” a movie with one of the most unfortunate titles in recent memory.

Formula done right is one reason the lightweight romantic romp, “The Lost City,” works. Another is the unassuming, easy-going chemistry between its two leads, Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum.

When we think of the baby-boomer bible, Rolling Stone, we tend to think of Jann Wenner and Annie Leibovitz and even Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous”). 

The Derby is the oldest continuously held sporting event in America, and its 148thincarnation is this Saturday. So, the timing couldn’t be better to catch “Jockey,” a 2021 film currently streaming on home video. 

As someone – Babe Paley? The Duchess of Windsor? – once said, “You can never be too thin or too rich.” Add “or too white,” and you’ve got the Abercrombie and Fitch mantra of the late’90s and early ‘00s down pat.

I’d follow Thandiwe Newton anywhere, and I’ve been rewarded with such diverse gems as “Westworld,” “Crash” and “The Truth About Charlie.” So, when I came across her name in “All the Old Knives,” well….

The best play I’ve seen this century is called “Jerusalem” and it starred an actor I’d never heard of. His name is Mark Rylance, and I’ve sure as hell heard of him now.