When I was 7 years old, my unsuspecting parents took me to the drive-in to see the new Hitchcock film: PSYCHO. To this day, shower curtains creep me out. But my love of movies, and Hitchcock, was sealed forever. As we enter awards season and critics' groups weigh in on the best cinematic offerings of the year, it’s the perfect time [...]
THE CRITICS HAVE SPOKEN!! This weekend, the two Boston film critics groups to which I belong announced their 2015 year end awards! So whose picks are closest to yours? Read all the way to the bottom and see if it's MAD MAX or SPOTLIGHT-- and all the rest. Peruse the results and let me know what you think! The [...]
Here's a holiday double feature to be thankful for! The first is a sci-fi adventure franchise that neatly wraps itself up, and the second is a truly artful, old-fashioned romance that may generate a BEST ACTRESS OSCAR nomination! THE HUNGER GAMES:MOCKINGJAY-Part 2 finds Jennifer Lawrence, older and wiser as Katniss Everdeen, the leader of the rebellion in Panem against the cruel President Snow (Donald Sutherland) [...]
Here's the bottom line on some of what I've seen lately onstage and onscreen: THEATER *This is the last week to see Katori Hall's SATURDAY NIGHT/ SUNDAY MORNING at the Lyric Stage. It's an entertaining slice of life set in Memphis during WWII at Miss Mary's Press n' Curl, [...]
The scandal broke on January 6, 2002 the Feast of the Epiphany-- and what a revelation. On that Sunday, The Boston Globe Spotlight Team released the first in a series of articles that would earn them a Pulitzer Prize, and cast light on a story that had been festering in the dark corners of Catholic parishes around Massachusetts for decades: priests had been [...]
Switzerland didn't do it until 1971: grant women the right to vote. "Impossible!" you say. Well, it's just one of the astonishing facts revealed in SUFFRAGETTE, a new film about the early struggle of women to win the right to vote. To be heard. To have a say. To be considered worthy of being listened to. To [...]
WIN complimentary passes to the Fathom Event: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST! Enter to win by emailing fathomeventsboston@gmail.com with “EARNEST – JOYCE’S CHOICES” in the subject line. 5 admit 2 winners will be selected and emailed their complimentary passes. Passes will be valid for the Showcase Cinema De Lux Patriot Place in Foxborough MA. For more [...]
In an era of rampant consumerism, a bloated blogosphere, Trump-eted messaging through thousands of media outlets, and pervasive psychic indigestion, it might be difficult to unplug and sit still long enough to hear the quiet simple message of the film A SMALL GOOD THING. It is. Local Academy Award-winning filmmaker Pamela Tanner Boll (BORN INTO BROTHELS 2004) here directs a [...]
THE SECOND MOTHER, Brazil's entry as Best Foreign Language film at the 88th Annual Oscars--is a warm-hearted superbly acted, insightfully scripted tale about motherhood across class boundaries-- that literally knows no bounds. Acclaimed Brazilian actress Regina Case stars as Val, a working class live-in housekeeper/nanny to a wealthy family in Sao Paulo, where she has become like a member of [...]
THE MARTIAN or (How a Geeked-out Gardener Saved His Own Life) stars our most down to earth actor in an out of this world saga that grabs us in its first few minutes, takes us on a wild ride, and features a signature performance in one of the best films of the year to date. MATT DAMON-- yeah, I love him, you love him-- [...]
