(***1/2) It started with a spark, and no one knew how it would end. That’s how the deadliest fire in California history went down on November 18th, 2018, in Butte County, California. A town named Paradise was destroyed, burned to the ground and 85 people died. This based-on-fact story got pulled out of the ashes. They […]
Black Films Help 2025 Toronto International Film Festival Celebrate its 50th Anniversary
As TIFF turned 50 it rolled out the red carpet for 291 films from around the world. Over 11 festive days, features, documentaries and shorts were screened and enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of film lovers. Black directors, actors and their films left lasting impressions in unique ways. These are just a few. Hedda (***) […]
Love, Brooklyn
(**1/2) He loves her. He loves her not. She loves him, she loves him not. That’s why they broke up. TV series director turned filmmaker Rachael Holder has love and triads on her mind. That’s got to be the reason she’s teamed with first time screenwriter Paul Zimmerman to tell this romantic, urban dramedy set […]
An Officer and a Spy
(***1/2) Accused, court-martialed and imprisoned. Back in late 1800s France, the Dreyfus Affair was a national scandal. Oddly, some of the trumped-up machinations of that case seem so relevant these days With author/screenwriter Robert Harris (Conclave) on board, alongside veteran writer/director Roman Polanski, anyone looking for thoughtful, tight and illuminating writing gets what they want. […]
Highest 2 Lowest
(***) “Oh, what a beautiful mornin’, Oh what a beautiful day. I’ve got a beautiful feelin’,Everything’s goin’ my way.” Well, no. Maybe everything’s not going your way my brother! As shots of the downtown Brooklyn skyline come into view and a booming baritone voice sings the most famous song from the 1943 ground-breaking musical Oklahoma!, the words portend a wonderful day is […]
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
(**1/2) “I will not sacrifice this child for the world. I will not sacrifice this world for my child.” Hard to understand what could drive anyone to say that. Hard to understand what could put anyone in that position. That’s the core of this film’s very thoughtful screenplay, as created by Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff […]
Weapons
(***1/2) They’re gone. Just like that they disappeared into the night. At 2:17am. Seventeen kids from a third-grade class vanished like ghosts. What the hell… That premise in writer/director Zach Cregger’s affecting horror/thriller is a seed that he grows organically. Starting with that mystery, then unraveling what happens afterwards in a compelling way that grabs any […]
The Naked Gun
(**) The Naked Gun is shooting blanks. Not all the time. But some of the time. There was something so fresh and funny about police detective Frank Drebin in 1988’s The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! He was an oddball, thickskulled dufus. A character Canadian/American actor Leslie Nielsen played completely deadpan and locked and loaded […]
I Know What You Did Last Summer
(**) They had it coming. The negligence and callousness they showed that night set them up for a karma payback. Evil sought them out. That was the premise of the first I Know What You Did Last Summer, which dates back to 1997 and starred Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michael Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prince […]
Superman
(***) It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a broken man. A broken Kryptonian who’s trying to find his place on this earth. Just like the rest of us. The themes of finding oneself, especially after others have tried to redefine and demonize you, is an all-too-common occurrence. And it’s just one of the many […]
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