A movie of small moments, two couples in Manhattan with regular Manhattan jobs, like we used to get from Woody Allen. No guffaws, but lots of little laughs and a pleasant ride along a low-key plot. For me, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was too much “Elaine” to be convincing or particularly interesting and the happy ending was […]
Cleverly put together by Davis Guggenheim, this assisted autobiography features movie clips, simulated scenes and documentary footage on an armature of director-subject interview. All credit to Michael J. Fox for exposing himself and publicizing the plight of Parkinson’s patients, and he is ever charming and captivating. I still felt something was missing, that we were […]
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are having a great time, and the audience does too. It’s an inspirational story about Nike taking a chance on Michael Jordan as a rookie. There’s not much subtlety, but what’s wrong with that? We already know the ending and most of what happens along the way; our pleasure comes […]
Hip Hooray for Sally Hawkins and Ye Merrie Olde England (or Scotland)! So much fun to watch an old-fashioned movie with plot, good guys and bad guys, real-life situations and nary an art-house pretension. Instructive too, as it was “based on a true story,” although director Stephen Frears took plenty of license, as did Shakespeare […]
Willem Dafoe couldn’t leave because he was locked inside a billionaire architect’s apartment after an art theft went awry, but what was my excuse? The film’s premise discouraged any hope of a happy or good ending, but surely something interesting would happen? It turned out to be nothing more than a Greek/Belgian/German art-house production that, […]
In anticipation of tomorrow’s awards show I watched the five nominated Documentary Shorts and rate them as follows: The Martha Mitchell Effect. The only traditional historical documentary in the field, this was a refreshing recapitulation of the time the Attorney General’s wife captured the spotlight for herself, by speaking out to the press, calling Nixon […]
If swelling music, period bonnets and close-ups of Emma Mackey’s eyes are your thing, this movie is for you. The story, a fabricated version of Emily Bronte’s life, contains no surprises or clues as to her artistry, but it’s pleasant enough to go back in time to the English countryside. Although Emma Mackey was attractive […]
Air Afire All Quiet on the Western Front All the Beauty and the Bloodshed American Fiction Anatomy Of A Fall Anselm Avatar: The Way of Water Barbie Between Two Worlds Black Panther: Wakanda Forever The Boy and the Heron Close to Vermeer Emily Fallen Leaves Ferrari Flora and Son Here The Holdovers Immediate Family The […]
Because few of these, if any, will make it to my local theater, I will quickly summarize my reactions to nine movies I saw at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. (I accord The Quiet Girl and To Leslie their own reviews because of their respective Oscar nominations.) Dr. Anthony Fauci – 6. A charming guy, […]
An acting tour de force from Andrea Riseborough, who inhabits this down-and-out but deviously charming alcoholic named Leslie. Just when you think you can’t watch her another minute, the story turns and we end up with tears in our eyes. The plot, above all the ending, doesn’t withstand much scrutiny; but you want to go […]
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