In 2018, the stories told, talent on view, compelling characters, emotions expressed and genres stretched were just amazing. It was more than enough to make viewers track films from the theaters to streaming services. Or vice versa.   Check out the year in movies.  Enjoy. Ben Is Back – The plague of drug addiction hits the tony suburbs and writer/director Peter […]

No matter how you slice it, a problem once relegated to the inner city is now all of America’s crisis. From a homeless person living under a bridge in New York City, to a kid OD’ing in a wealthy, bedroom community, drugs are killing people and making families implode. The latter is the central focus […]

This follow up to the very popular boxing film Creed (worldwide gross $174M) throws a lot of left hooks, right jabs and uppercuts, but only a few connect and none land a knockout punch. Count on the mass appeal (young, old, urban, male and female) of Creed II to put viewers in seats this holiday season. But, […]

Back in the day, if you couldn’t get to church on Sunday to hear the pastor’s sermon, you’d put on Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace album, the best-selling gospel record of all time, and she would give you your spiritual fix. After a long delay, and its share of controversy, this uplifting documentary that preserved her […]

Recently, two films explored the experiences of families living on the edge of poverty and homelessness. The Florida Project chronicled the lives of poor people living in a pink motel steps away from Disney World, in Orlando, Florida. As told through the eyes of cheery little kids, its tone was way too rosy for the subject. […]