ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD is easily THE film of the summer, the year thus far, and maybe the decade. It's a climactic showstopper of an achievement, Quentin Tarantino's avowed penultimate 9th movie, a full-to-bursting valentine to movie-making and movie stars, his native Los Angeles, and an industry mirroring the turbulence of a culture [...]
ENTER-TO-WIN TO SEE IFC's "RED JOAN" AT KENDALL SQUARE CINEMA CLICK HERE TO ENTER: https://tinyurl.com/RedJoan RED JOAN DIRECTED BY: Trevor Nunn STARRING: Judi Dench, Tom Hughes, Sophie Cookson, and Stephen Campbell Moore RELEASE DATE: April 26, 2019 (Boston) PLAYDATE THEATERS: AMC Boston Common, Kendall Square Cinema MPAA RATING: R RUNNING TIME: 110 Minutes SYNOPSIS: Joan [...]
OK. The big night is upon us and it's the wild west out there. Not just the Kevin Hart controversy; the cutting telecast categories controversy; the "only Gaga/Kendrick Lamar can sing" controversy; the "popular" movie category controversy; but also that crazy slate of Best Picture nominees with no front runner! Well, the final ballots are [...]
SO many excellent films came out at the 11th hour-- meaning not until FALL 2018 (ridiculously late I might add), that it has taken me until now to see all the good stuff. Here is a list of my TOP TEN favorite films of 2018. Many of these films allowed us to see ourselves in [...]
I love this annual marathon meeting-- our 38th-- of the BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS to decide our year end faves! We voted the "Best" in 15 categories topped by our BEST FILM of the year: the stunning IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK written and directed by Barry Jenkins, about a young African American couple in 1970's [...]
It's my favorite film so far this season: THE FAVOURITE, an 18th century biopic about British Queen Anne. A good old-fashioned, period costume drama? No bloody way. It's "Dangerous Liaisons" shot through the looking glass, except that it's "Anne" instead of "Alice," and "les liaisons" are decidedly and historically lesbian. THE FAVOURITE is [...]
I knew he was good, but even from the trailer I could tell SHE was good too. What I couldn't tell was just HOW good they would be together. Writer/director/composer/star Bradley Cooper found his muse in singer/composer/performance artist Lady Gaga; their alchemy is what tethered me to this moving, though imperfect film, and [...]
The dog days of summer feature two movies based on books that require some navigation through PC muddied waters. BLACKkKLANSMAN is Spike Lee's take on the "true" tale of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington, Denzel's son!) the first black detective on the Colorado Springs Police Force in the early '70's who infiltrates the Ku Klux [...]
Once again, I have waded through the summer's action-franchise-superhero swamp to find no new ground broken. "Jurasssic World: Fallen Kingdom" was a fun, velociraptorous romp through a gothic mansion. "Oceans 8" was an entertaining heist with fab female fashion and locations, but a plot full of holes which anchored its all-star female cast to a [...]
In one of the more entertaining Oscar nomination ceremonies in recent memory, Andy Serkis and Tiffany Haddish announced the nominations for the 90th Annual OSCARS this morning from California. THE SHAPE OF WATER lead with 13 nominations. By my calculation, there were a few flubs, snubs, & surprises: --Spielberg was snubbed as Best Director for [...]
