(**) There may be a justified reason for making a film about the horrors of the Holocaust and keeping the victims in the background as sound effects. But that reason remains allusive as this depiction of a German Nazi family living next door to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp unfolds. Dad, Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), and mother, Hedwig […]
The Burial
(***) It’s an unlikely paring. A 75-year-old, southern white boy and a flashy ambulance-chasing Black lawyer. But it works. It’s them against big business. Davids versus Goliath. An ancient tale that never grows old. Screenwriter Doug Wright and screenwriter/director Maggie Betts use a fascinating true-life event as their source material. In Biloxi Mississippi, in the 1990s, […]
Maestro Premieres at the 2023 New York Film Festival
(***1/2) Should Bradley Cooper change his name to Bradley Scorsese? That thought must have crossed the minds of the NYFF filmgoers who attended the premiere of Maestro, Cooper’s homage to Leonard Bernstein. From the moment the film started at the new David Geffen Theater in New York’s Lincoln Center, Cooper’s transformation from actor/director to actor/auteur was […]
Silver Dollar Road — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***) Swindlers stealing land from Black folks is an age-old scam. One worth exposing. Silver Dollar road is a waterfront property in North Carolina that’s been in the Reels family for generations. Unbeknownst to them, they’ve been conned out of a large portion of their acreage by a deceitful relative and white land developers. That […]
One Life –- Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***) Many films have catalogued the personal and miraculous experiences of those who’ve survived the holocaust. Add this heart-warming movie to that canon of movies that have shed light on the people who escaped from a massive genocide. In the 1980s, Nicholas Winton (Sir Anthony Hopkins), an elderly British man, cleans out a drawer in his home office […]
Flora and Son –- Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***) Writer/director John Carney scored big with his Irish rom/dra/mus Once. That gem won an Oscar® for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song for the tune “Falling Slowly.” In fact, the story and music were so rich that project evolved into a popular Broadway musical. This new stab at the same genre isn’t […]
Copa 71 — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***) The six all-female, international soccer teams that converged on Mexico City in 1971 were in a league of their own. They were unsanctioned by the patronizing, condescending FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). Both hailed and harassed by the press. What was their objective? Winning the Women’s World Cup. Daily, 100,000 football fans gathered to watch them […]
Ezra — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(**) It’s rare that films venture into the world of autism. In that way, audiences will be grateful for this family dramedy, even though its far-fetched storyline misses the mark. Max (Bobby Cannavale), a New Jersey standup comic, leads an alternative lifestyle. He isn’t a 9-5 type and makes his money doing gigs. His ex-wife Jenna […]
Reptile — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(**1/2) Benicio Del Toro doesn’t appear in a lot of films. So, his fans need to catch him when they can. Even in meandering crime/dramas. Music video director Grant Singer (The Weeknd, Sam Smith) adds feature filmmaker and screenwriter to his resume. He teams up with co-screenwriters Benjamin Brewer and Del Toro as they tell a story […]
The Holdovers — Toronto International Film Festival Review
(***) This gathering of three lost souls, pushed together by circumstance and location, takes a bit of time to weave its sardonic magic. But it gets there. In 1970 New England, Barton is an elitist all-boys, live-in, private high school. Over winter break some kids aren’t going home. They’re the “holdovers.” The most unpopular and […]
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