(***) 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 […]
The Brutalist – 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Review
(****) It only takes a few minutes to ascertain that The Brutalist is a brilliant work of art. Soon after it begins, this fictional bio/drama exhibits an artistry and craftsmanship usually rendered by French, Italian or Mexican directors. But surprisingly, this auteur is Arizona-born Brady Corbet. An actor (Thirteen) turned director (Vox Lux) whose talent and skills […]
Saturday Night – 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***1/2) It’s crazy! One hour and 40 minutes of controlled chaos displays the 90 crazy minutes before air time in the hectic buildup to the first Saturday Night Live show. Wow. Hold on to your coffee cup! You don’t have to know much about SNL to appreciate the artistry and insanity that went into this fine-tuned reenactment. A funny […]
The Order – 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***1/2) The underground white supremacy movement didn’t start yesterday. More like yesteryear. It’s stunning to learn that what’s new is old as this gripping crime/thriller recounts the 1980s, when the FBI hunted a subversive, racist group bent on violent domination. That The Turner Diaries, a 1978 novel by neo-Nazi William Luther Pierce that was a handbook […]
Babygirl – 2024 Toronto International Film Festival Review
(**1/2) She beds him but thinks of someone else. Someone who’ll fulfill her sexual fantasies. What she can’t get at home, she’ll get elsewhere. Must be easy for female viewers to plug into this desire. A longing that’s been the basis for countless romance novels. The kind with Fabio airbrushed on the front and […]
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