The year is 1968. Records are still records and landlines are still called telephones. Stonewall is a year away and the specter of AIDS lurks in a distant decade.
Tag: movie review
‘The Glorias’ – movie about Gloria Steinem is ‘an unmitigated disaster’
“The Glorias,” Julie Taymor’s take on the life and times of Gloria Steinem, is so muddled and off-putting that I’m going to cancel my subscription to Ms.magazine.
‘Made in Italy’ – Liam Neeson, and real-life son Michael Richardson, star in unsatisfying movie
“Made in Italy” looks like a real movie. But like a cheap knock-off of a trendy gadget, it might as well be tagged “Made in Japan.”
In memory of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – in movies
Score one more for the wretchedness that is 2020. This past weekend, the seemingly indomitable Ruth Bader Ginsburg finally lost her long battle with cancer.
‘Feels Good Man’ – documentary introduces us to the ‘Dark Web’
In some ways, “Feels Good Man” is much ado about not much.
‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ – a Charlie Kaufman movie that’s both too much and too little
Never mind being John Malkovich. Try being Charlie Kaufman.
It would probably take Kaufman himself to pull that off, though there are those who’d say he’s already done it. That his movies, from “Adaptation” to “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” to, well, “Being John Malkovich” are about being Charlie Kaufman.
Chadwick Boseman’s death a huge loss for movie industry
Not since I heard about Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams, have I been as stunned by an actor’s death as I was about Chadwick Boseman’s.
‘Tesla’ – director Michael Almereyda’s movie shortchanges inventor Nikola Tesla
Everything interesting about “Tesla” is on the edges.
Like the macabre modern touches (Industrialist J.P. Morgan’s daughter, the movie’s narrator/potential love interest, coolly googles Tesla and his rival inventor, Edison, noting the latter has more than twice as many entries).
‘Radioactive’ – Rosamund Pike is radiant in role of Madame Curie
The glowing green vial Madame Marie Sklodowska Curie keeps next to her bed isn’t the most radiant thing in “Radioactive.” That honor must go to Rosamund Pike whose spikey performance as Curie lights up what could’ve lapsed into another feminist-laced by-the-book biography.
‘Palm Springs’ – a romantic time-loop movie starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti
“Palm Springs” may be the perfect pandemic romance. An initial at-a-glance plot summary is admittedly off-putting, especially for those of us who think “Groundhog Day” may be one of the greatest films ever made.
‘John Lewis: Good Trouble’ – A documentary about a remarkable man
“John Lewis: Good Trouble” isn’t a remarkable documentary, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s about a remarkable man and that’s more than enough.
‘Greyhound’ – Tom Hanks stars in engaging World War II movie full of tension
A victory at sea for writer/star Tom Hanks, his entire cast and crew and us – their lucky audience, “Greyhound” gives moviegoers a gripping taste of the World War II combat zone known as the Battle of the Atlantic.
The Ghost of Peter Sellers’ – a revenge-therapy documentary about making a movie
By Eleanor Ringel Cater Though most outside fireworks were curtailed this Fourth, there were plenty of them inside on your streaming devices. “Hamilton” (or “Hamilfilm,” as its been nicknamed) hit homes like a combination Sparkler, Cherry Bomb, and Roman Candle. Equally potent, in a very different way and arriving with considerably less fanfare, was the […]
‘Irresistible’ – Jon Stewart directs smart political satire
Oh, how we’ve missed you Jon Stewart.
Thankfully, he’s back with “Irresistible,” a cheerfully subversive bit of political satire that’s almost impossible to write about without giving the game away.
‘Knives Out’ – Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc leaves us wanting more
A world-famous and quite wealthy mystery writer named Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) has been found dead. Apparently, it’s a suicide. His throat has been slit. His hand is on the bloody knife.
‘The King of Staten Island’ – Pete Davidson successfully transitions from SNL to movies
The question on everyone’s mind about “The King of Staten Island” is pretty simple: has Pete Davidson got the goods?
African-American movies for this moment in time
Just a few months ago, in January, I was trying to be clever (emphasize “trying”) as I wrote about “Just Mercy,”the new film starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx. Based on a true story of racial injustice set in 1988, I joked that “Just Mercy” would be one of the best movies of the year – if the year were 1988 or even 1968.
‘Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind’ – documentary features her life, not death
So much has happened this past weekend that writing about a Natalie Wood documentary seems a bit beside the point.
‘The Trip to Greece’ – Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon banter with Greece as a backdrop
Greece is the word – or it would be if its magnificent scenery could get a word in edgewise as Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon chatter and babble non-stop through the fourth and final leg of their meandering series in “The Trip to Greece.”
‘Seberg’ – movie exploits and shortchanges actress Jean Seberg
Alive or dead, Jean Seberg can’t catch a break from the movies. Ironic, in a way, since she’s associated with two of the biggest “breaks” in cinema history.
