Review: Vita & Virginia
Vita Sackville-West was a British socialite and a popular writer in the 1920s. She was also fond of scandalizing the society in which she lived, especially with her female lovers.…
Review: Blinded by the Light
I’m a devoted Springsteen fan. I’ve seen him in concert several times, recently spent a boatload of cash to see him on Broadway – twice – and easily recall popping…
Review: Piranhas
In this adaptation of Roberto Saviano's (Gomorrah) coming of age novel a group of fifteen-year-old boys in Naples transform themselves from one of the city's many adolescent street gangs into…
Quickie Review: The Kitchen
The Kitchen. Just stay out of it. As much as I’d like to support a film helmed by a woman (Andrea Berloff in her directorial debut) and led by a…
Review: The Art of Racing in the Rain
The Art of Racing in the Rain is based on a book that’s apparently reduced plenty of readers to a puddle of mush since its publication in 2008. The film…
Review: Spider-Man: Far From Home
I’m suffering a bit from early-summer superhero fatigue, so I fully acknowledge that my ailment could account for my less than enthusiastic endorsement of Spider-Man: Far From Home. It’s still…
Review: Aladdin (2019)
I must confess I went into Disney’s live-action Aladdin with the lowest of expectations and a great deal of skepticism. I’m an ardent fan of the 1992 animated classic and…
Quickie Review: A Dog’s Journey
A Dog’s Journey is for dog/animal lovers. It’s a continuation of the heartwarming saga that got us all misty-eyed in the 2017 doggie drama A Dog’s Purpose. In this sequel,…
Quickie Review: The Sun Is Also a Star
The Sun Is Also a Star is a fine though forgettable romantic drama for the YA crowd and possibly others who’ve read the best-selling novel of the same name by…
Review: The White Crow
“White crow," as the film informs us early on, is a term used to describe a person who is unusual, extraordinary, not like others, an outsider. A Rudolph Nureyev. For…
Quickie Review: Red Joan
There’s no denying Judi Dench’s watchability factor. The Grand Dame of cinema commands the screen whenever she’s on it – which isn’t all that much in the not-so-thrilling spy thriller…
Quickie Review: The Chaperone
Louise Brooks was a silent screen phenomenon. A woman whose style all others copied. But before she was a star, she was just a teenager in Wichita, Kansas. The Chaperone…
Quickie Review: Dumbo
There’s a reason we don’t review too many kids’ movies, even if we happen to see them: they aren’t really for us. A few weeks ago, I saw the animated…
Review: The Aftermath
I’m not normally one for period dramas but I was intrigued by the basic premise of The Aftermath: former enemies forced to reconnect on various levels of humanity in the…
Quickie Reviews: Gloria Bell; Yardie
What’s with all the remakes of decent if not exceptional foreign films lately? In recent months, we’ve seen Americanized versions of the 2011 feel-good French film The Intouchables (remade as…