(***) “Are they people?” No, not really. Though they may be back in the galaxies they came from. Director Steven Spielberg’s fascination with life from other worlds dates back to 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and continued with 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. In 1993 his sensibility for the persecuted was manifested in Schindler’s List. While his gift […]
Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s The Weight of the World) Opens 2026 Tribeca Film Festival
(***) “When you wish upon a star, your dreams will take you very far, yeah.” The lyrics from Earth, Wind & Fire’s Grammy-winning song “Shining Star” couldn’t be more appropriate for the band, this joyous documentary or the festival that hosts it. As the Tribeca Film Festival marks its 25th anniversary, there are a lot of reasons to […]
Backrooms
(***1/2) “Get the hell out of there!” If audiences don’t say it, they’re thinking it. That’s the mark of a psych-horror thriller that’s done its job. Scare the weak. Rattle the strong. Leave no one behind. This fright fest is a credit to the genre. A weird doorway materializes in the basement of Cap’n Clark’s […]
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
(***) “The old protect the young. The young protect the old.” Those prophetic words are also the premise of this Star Wars chapter. It’s perhaps the most visually disappointing film in the franchise. Still, it’s filled with enough commotion to capture and keep action/adventure audiences intrigued and satisfied. Those old enough to remember the original Star Wars, released May […]
The Devil Wears Prada 2
(**1/2) Looks like satin. Feels like polyester. Yet many will go window shopping and like what they see. Twenty years ago, The Devil Wears Prada received two Oscar nominations: Meryl Streep for Best Actress and Patricia Field for Best Costume Design. It earned a respectable $326,588,371 at the international box office and became the fashion statement film. […]
Michael
(**1/2) He was a Black singer who yearned to cross over from the African American community to mainstream America. He did. Ironically, in the end, the Black fans who loved him first may be the loyalists who embrace this conventional biofilm, when others won’t. This sanitized portrait lacks scandal and may disappoint some. But those […]
You, Me & Tuscany
(**1/2) She loves him. She loves him not. He loves her. He loves her not. One woman. Two men. She’s living a lie and falling in love under the Tuscan sun. How did that happen? That premise, by Kristin Engle, involves a young woman, an Italian villa and a big fib. That notion was turned into a script […]
The Drama
(**1/2) You wouldn’t wish this wedding day on anybody. But there they are. Two lovers who should be in bliss are trapped in their own turmoil. Norwegian writer/director Kristoffer Borgli has built a solid reputation for dark comedy (Sick of Myself). It’s an avenue he treads again, somewhat. Only this time out, the darkness is […]
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