“Universal Language” – Not what you’d expect [MOVIE REVIEW]
You’ll be scratching your head throughout “Universal Language,” that is, when you’re not howling. I am at a loss to explain the meaning of this wacky film that is described by its writer-director Matthew Rankin as being “In a mysterious and bizarre interzone somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg where the lives of multiple characters interweave […]
“Bring Them Down” – All of them [MOVIE REVIEW]
The insular lives of sheep farmers, as written and directed by Chris Andrews, is only the beginning of this intense drama. “Bring Them Down” is much more than that, using the barren but bucolic setting of an isolated hillside in Ireland as the setting for a family feud. Allegorically, this familial tragedy is positively Shakespearean […]
“Santosh” Exceeding and falling to expectations [MOVIE REVIEW]
It is unlikely you will see a bleaker movie than”Santosh,” the outstanding feature directorial debut of documentarian Sandhya Suri. Opening this Pandora’s Box filled with poverty, racism, caste hatred, corruption and governmental incompetence is gut wrenching because it goes beyond the horror of everyday life in rural India telling the journey of young widow Santosh […]
“The Count of Monte Cristo” – Swashbuckling all the way [MOVIE REVIEW]
“The Count of Monte Cristo,” a new edition of this oft-told tale, adapted and directed by the team of Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellèreof, is a sweepingly romantic adventure full to overflowing with love, hate, greed, betrayal, revenge and resurrection. The villains are painted in the blackest blacks, but what makes it most […]
“The Girl with the Needle” – Sharp indeed [MOVIE REVIEW]
“The Girl with the Needle” is Denmark’s submission for the Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards. Directed by Magnus von Horn and co-written with Line Langebek, he has created what he thinks is a modern day fairy tale. This film, however, is more grim than Grimm and definitely darker than a Hans Christian […]
“Mad About the Boy” – Crazy for him too [MOVIE REVIEW]
Noel Coward is a name that seems to have dropped from the modern lexicon and that’s entirely unfair. I’d done my fair share of dismissal until I saw a production of “Present Laughter” in London starring Andrew Scott. Now, granted, Scott could read the phone book (if we used such things now) and it would […]
“Daaaaaalí! – Emphasis on the í! [MOVIE REVIEW]
“Daaaaaalí!” is the ultimate fluff piece. It’s a French existential comedy that replays like “Groundhog Day,” revisiting the same surreal theme, Dalí himself, over and over using multiple actors playing the master himself. Young Judith Rochant (Anaïs Demoustier), tired of her day job as a pharmacist, has decided to redefine herself as a journalist and […]
“Lee” – Multi-dimensional [MOVIE REVIEW]
“Lee,” about the incomparable Lee Miller, takes an interesting approach to telling her story. Too vast a landscape to cover, “Lee” uses the framework of a latter day interview to delve into her unique life. Always in the forefront, she was a high fashion model, artist, photographer and groundbreaker. Her beauty and intelligence gave her […]
“The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” – A personal journey [MOVIE REVIEW]
“The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry,” written by Rachel Joyce based on her best seller, is directed by Hettie Macdonald. Macdonald, whose work on the popular Irish series “Normal People” established her as an artist who fully understands the importance of character development really knows how to tell a small story with bigger aspirations and […]
“Wolfs” – Howling all the way [MOVIE REVIEWS]
Make no mistake, “Wolfs” is not going to make anyone’s “Best of” list for 2024 but that doesn’t mean it’s not a lot of fun, because it is. A starring vehicle for two of the biggest movie stars on the planet, Brad Pitt and George Clooney, the script is a tad too light to sustain […]
“Coup!” To you too [MOVIE REVIEW]
The more things change, the more they remain the same, or at least they do in “Coup!” set during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. The city has been abandoned; businesses have closed; people are starving; the government of Woodrow Wilson is cracking down on dissenters and anyone spreading criticism of the efforts to curb the […]
“Good One” – By whose definition [MOVIE REVIEW]
“Good One” is an uncomfortably insightful film by India Donaldson in her feature writing and directing debut, and it is purposefully ambiguous, starting with the title. Sam (Lily Collias) and her dad Chris (James Le Gros) are in the midst of packing for their annual father/daughter camping trip. Chris stumbles over the baby toys strewn […]
“Swan Song” – An end and a beginning [MOVIE REVIEW]
Karen Kain was the much beloved and lauded prima ballerina of the National Ballet of Canada. She followed up her dancing career by becoming its Artistic Director. Announcing her retirement, she was determined that she would not go gentle into that good night, by declaring that her last act would also be a first. She […]
“The Convert” – Not what you think [MOVIE REVIEW]
There are films that defy expectations and there are those that turn those expectations upside down. Lee Tamahori’s “The Convert” is a movie that does both. Tamahori, a Maori/English filmmaker from New Zealand, burst on the scene in 1994 with “Once Were Warriors” about a violent Maori family. In “The Convert,” he returns to those […]
“Chronicles of a Wandering Saint” – Going where you don’t expect [MOVIE REVIEW]
“Chronicles of a Wandering Saint,” a true gem, is about the unexpectedly surreal and funny actions of a woman whose expectations rise to the heavens. That woman is Rita Lopez. She lives in a tiny, neglected Argentine village in the middle of nowhere, where the local Catholic church, dedicated to Santa Rita, is the central […]
“Green Border” – Withering [MOVIE REVIEW]
Agnieszka Holland, the fabled director of “Europa Europa” about a young Jewish boy’s survival in Nazi Germany, has set her laser focus on the migrant crisis in Poland. “Green Border” won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival as well as a number of nominations and awards around the world. Most Polish film […]