(***) 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 […]
I’m Still Here — 2024 New York Film Festival Review
(***) What’s it like when a dictator and his military regime run a country—into the ground? This cautionary and true tale, which is based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s memoir, chronicles the life of his family and particularly his mother. It includes the challenges they faced while Brazil was run by a military dictatorship, specifically in the […]
The Room Next Door — 2024 New York Film Festival Review
(**1/2) Maybe the book What Are You Going Through, by Sigrid Nunez, was deeper. But this film adaptation is surprisingly shallow and stiff. Considering the subject matter, something has been lost in translation. Hard to remember a Pedro Almodóvar (Parallel Mothers) movie that wasn’t perfectly produced. So, it’s no wonder that this end-of-life saga includes a […]
Maria – 2024 New York Film Festival Review
(**) Some will think that this depressing bio/drama is a disservice to the memory of Maria Callas. That it reduces her to a has-been and a concubine, and she shouldn’t be defined by the tragedies in her life. When Angelina Jolie takes on a role, she’s all in. She may not look like the American-born, […]
Queer — 2024 New York Film Festival Review
(**1/2) Something about William S. Burroughs’ books makes you feel like he’s taken you to a stinky bar, where your feet stick to the floor from the grime and everything smells. This adaptation of his book Queer doesn’t feel that way. It’s more like walking through a museum. A boring one. Burroughs, a beat generation gay writer, […]
Piece by Piece
(***) “It might seem crazy what I’m about to say.” But this fun-to-watch bio/mus/doc should’ve been titled Happy, and not Piece by Piece. That’s the vibe. That’s the depth. Certainly, Pharrell Williams is worthy of a movie about his musical feats. He’s won 13 Grammy Awards; an Academy Award nomination (Happy for Despicable Me 2) and his productions have […]
Conclave – 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Review
(****) If you told this twisted story at a cocktail party, everyone would be entranced. They’d listen attentively, right up until the end with the big reveal. That’s when they’d drop their martini glasses, gasp and laugh at how providence has bigger plans for humanity than conniving men could ever fathom. British writer Robert Harris […]
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