(**) Godzilla and King Kong use to have a beef. Now that they’ve kissed and made up, there’s no real meat in this generic big creature smackdown. Also, any production involving Godzilla or Kong now stands in the shadow of the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One. There’s no excuses anymore. If writer/director Takashi Yamazaki can craft a […]
Road House
(**) Is there a point to remaking an older movie if you aren’t going to make it better? Or is it just an easy way out for filmmakers adverse to creating something new? Director/producer Doug Liman has an impressive filmography that’s marked by innovative films that started their own genres. The very hip Swingers. The intense […]
In Restless Dreams: The Music Of Paul Simon
(***) Everything you’ve always wanted to know. Every facet of Paul Simon’s musical career is on view and here for the listening too. For 3h 29m, Oscar-winner Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), a veteran documentarian and miniseries director, plays out Simon’s greatest hits, adventurous musical excursions and the recording of his latest studio […]
Shirley
(**1/2) She was a pioneer. A political warrior. A woman who’s earned an esteemed place in herstory. After Frederick Douglas (1848), Edwin Taylor (1904) and Channing E Phillips (1968). Before Jesse Jackson (1984), Alan Keyes (1992) and Barack Obama (2008). There was Shirley Chisolm (1972). All vied to be president of the United States. She […]
The American Society of Magical Negroes
(*1/2) Those who can, teach. Those who can’t, but want their narrative told anyway, try satire. Somewhere in the basic code of screenwriting is a mantra that says, “Show don’t tell.” If you have a message, and you dispense it visually, audiences are smart enough to follow it and see the point. And if they […]
Cabrini
(***) Today’s immigrant story is not so different from yesterday’s immigrant story. Some New Yorkers may remember the name Cabrini Medical Center, a hospital that went through various incarnations and finally closed in 2008, along with many NYC health centers. That name has a lineage, and this biofilm traces it back to Mother Frances Cabrini, […]
Dune: Part Two
(***1/2) How deep is the sand? How high is the sky? Director/writer Denis Villeneuve knows how to make a throw-down sci-fi epic. He proved that with his captivating production Dune (2021), which won six 2022 Oscars® for cinematography, production design, visual effects, sound, editing and score. As audiences contemplate this sequel, they’ll expect the visuals, sounds and […]
Io Capitano
(****) If you’ve ever wondered what an immigrant’s backstory might be, you ‘re not alone. It’s a subject worth exploring. That’s why this sobering but illuminating parable by Italian writer/director Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah) is so compelling. He humanizes a journey thousands upon thousands of Sub-Sahara refugees make to the E.U. Doesn’t skip on the horrors, […]
Bob Marley: One Love
It’s like Bob Marley never left this earth. Credit his infectious music for keeping his legacy alive. When you hear a Marley song, you get a fresh feeling. Like you’re listening to it for the first time, even though you’re not. Forty-three years after the reggae king’s death, his essence, love, wisdom and social concerns are alive and well in his verses, choruses, lyrics and melodies. The power of Marley’s music will lift viewers spirits for […]
Sugarcane — 2024 Sundance Film Festival
(****) It’s a day of reckoning. A time to hold people accountable. Graves are found around St. Josephs Mission, a residential school once run by priests from the Catholic Church. The facility in Williams Lake, in British Columbia, Canada, gave room, board and an education to Native American children from the nearby Sugarcane Reservation. It […]
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