(**1/2) What is life like after being locked up in prison from age 15 to 30? How do you adjust to an outside world without the human development skills your contemporaries have? Writer/director Rashad Frett has a clue and fathoms it, along with co-screenwriter Lin Que Ayoung, in his intense, harsh reality, post-incarceration drama. Ricardo “Ricky” Smith […]
No Other Land
(****) “They shot my son in front of me. I lifted his head and his blood poured on me.” The people of Masafer Yatta are brave in the face of genocide. Their beautiful mountainous region, home of 20 ancient Palestinian villages on the West Bank, is being encroached upon. Homes and businesses are being demolished. Thankfully the […]
One of Them Days
(**1/2) They’re girlz in the hood. Two young women trying to make it from Friday to Next Friday and Friday After Next. And as they do, they take viewers on a journey through working class Los Angeles that feels like it was ripped from the past and updated with a modern feminist twist. The film’s comedy roots are showing. It’s […]
Mufasa: The Lion King
(***) “Every being has a place in the circle of life,” and “No more kings, we are all one.” Those lines of dialogue sum up the two major themes of this entertaining prequel/sequel. It’s the successor to 2019’s photorealistic/animated The Lion King ($1.6B international box office), which was the live-action version of the 1994 traditionally animated The Lion King ($981M). […]
Viva Puerto Rico! A Vacation Paradise
The enchanting island of Puerto Rico boasts 272 miles of Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea coastline with calm waters or pounding surfs. But sand and sea aren’t the only attractions. A world-renowned rainforest, tasty cuisine, friendly people and a fun nightlife are also great reasons to vacation on this tropical island. San Juan is Vibrant San Juan, […]
10 BEST FILMS 2024
These 10 films rose to the top of 2024’s mountain of excellent movies. Many will vie for Oscars®. Join the fun, view these movies in theaters or on streaming services and watch great cinema. The Brutalist (****) Hard to believe this entrancing bio/drama, which exhibits an artistry and craftsmanship usually rendered by foreign directors, was created […]
Gladiator II
(***) Back in the third century, Rome was the heart of the vast Roman Empire, and its Colosseum was the heart of the city. That’s where the rich, poor and otherwise gathered for events. Gladiator fights. Contests between man and beasts. Executions. Even nautical battles, when they’d flood the floor of the world’s largest amphitheater […]
Wicked
(***1/2) “Are we all born wicked?” It’s a trick question. The answer you give reflects your view of humanity. In fact, that query is the theme of this charming and fanciful adaption of the Broadway musical Wicked (2003). That show was based on a novel by Gregory Maguire (1995), which was inspired by L. Frank Baum’s book The Wizard […]
Emilia Pérez — 2024 New York Film Festival Review
(***1/2) Nothing in law school prepared her for this. Not the bar exam. Mock trials. Nothing! Only creative, forward-thinking and innovative filmmakers could concoct this modern-day life-of-crime fable. Those accolades describe writer/director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet) and his co-screenwriters Thomas Bidegain and Nicolas Livecchi. They’re telling a tale that will rock audiences’ world. A parable […]
All We Imagine as Light — 2024 New York Film Festival Review
(***) Two women. Two stories. Both being pulled in different directions. Away from traditional roles. Into the new India. The younger and single Anu (Divya Prabha) is trying to break with tradition: “My parents are looking for someone for me to marry. But I don’t want to.” Her older, wiser and married roommate Prabha (Kani […]
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