A stunningly well made biopic that not only captures Billy Joel, it explains. The filmmakers weave together archival footage, contemporary interviews, talking heads, studio sessions, concert performances and critical comments, all with the nonpareil soundtrack of Joel’s first six albums. His first wife Elizabeth emerges as the hero of his career amid struggles that were […]
The first film I’ve seen to baldly tackle the political dysfunction/divide/disaster that is the American fringe today, hitting bang-bang-bang on Covid masks, Black Lives Matter, gun culture, cults, indigenous rights, political distortion–what have I left out? Perhaps in trying to do too much, the plot is full of unresolved red herrings and relies on mysterious […]
A thoroughly charming cinematic representation of Alexandra Fuller’s riveting 2001 memoir about the 1980 transfer of white to Black power as Rhodesia was reborn as Zimbabwe. The story is told through the eyes and actions of seven-year-old actress Lexi Venter in an astonishing performance, while her innocence is matched by her psychologically fierce and tormented […]
Less a story than a scrapbook account of moving one’s mother to a memory-care facility. Kathleen Chalfant is superb as the regal 80-year-old who has retained her culinary skills but has no inkling of who the people around her are. Sympathetic, not maudlin, the picture it presents of a stage in life we have experienced […]
After time spent watching streamers it felt good to sit in a theater and see characters on a big screen with lush scenery behind them. Beyond that, this film was largely forgettable, although it left me wondering what its title meant. Camille Rutherford was fine as the Austen-besotted would-be writer, but the main attraction, for […]
In anticipation of tomorrow’s 2025 Tony Awards–many going to shows we haven’t seen–I am introducing the Bobby Awards for exemplary achievement in the eight shows we did see in May 2025. Best Actor: Hugh Jackman in Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes Best Actress: Sadie Sink in John Proctor is the Villain Best Supporting Actress: Julia Knitel in […]
Dead Outlaw (9) An outrageous true story of a mummy brought to life by a superb ensemble cast and a catchy country rock score played live onstage. The stagecraft was everything, as each excellent actor rotated through a variety of roles at a breakneck pace that drew you in and, amazingly, made you care. Andrew […]
One powerful movie. Ryan Coogler keeps us on the edge of our seats, guessing where the story is going before it explodes in our faces. There’s a lot about music, especially the blues, Southern culture, power, magic, sex (romance?) and race (the good guys are Native American, the bad guys white, and everyone in between […]
A minute-by-minute recreation of Navy Seals under attack in Ramadi, Iraq, remarkably devoid of a point-of-view, unless it’s that war is, if not hell, not a lot of fun. Why the American soldiers are holed up in this building, who is attacking them, or even why America is in this war are not even hinted […]
Forget the context of the Palestinian-Israeli struggle, as if that were possible, this film succeeds as a wonderful human drama, a gripping story with superb lead performances by Saleh Bakri and Imogen Poots, both easy on the eyes. Then add the context of Palestinian life in the West Bank, even without Israel’s later all-out assault […]
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