What would you do if you could conjure up deceased friends and relatives and re-visit your past? That is the premise of "Marjorie Prime" a new film based on a Pulitzer Prize-nominated play by Jordan Harrison which made a splash at Sundance. I found the film more suggestive than the play, and it is having [...]
WIN complimentary passes to the Fathom Events: THE MET: LIVE IN HD 2016-17 SERIES and BOLSHOI BALLET! Enter to win by e-mailing fathomeventsboston@gmail.com with (name of the event/JOYCE) in the subject line. Please send your full name and e-mail address! 5 admit 2 winners will be selected for each event and emailed their complimentary passes. [...]
If you're still looking for that perfect gift for someone you love who loves the arts, I am passing along this 2016 Holiday Gift Guide, itself a gift from WBUR's The ARTery writers-- and I am proud to be one! This annual gift guide has several stockings full of suggestions in every discipline [...]
Boston's two film critics' circles (I belong to both) have voted their year end awards! The BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS (BSFC) have named "La La Land" starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone and directed by Best Director Damien ("Whiplash") Chazelle as BEST PICTURE! The Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) has named "Moonlight" BEST PICTURE with Best Ensemble for the magnificent trio [...]
As attractive, well-crafted, and convincingly--even compellingly acted as BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE was, I couldn't stop thinking that one good conversation between our superheroes would have cleared the whole thing up. But then it dawned on me-- there would be no movie. Boys will be boys, so this screenplay goes a long way toward ramping [...]
One day we won't need a FLICKS4CHICKS contest, but you may have perhaps noticed that it keeps raining men at the movies. From macho superheroes and shoot 'em up cop dramas, to frat boy hi-jinks, comedic buddy bromances, and sci-fi adventure films it's mostly men in the drivers' seats, in front of [...]
It's a quiet time of year for movie releases after the blockbusters of summer and the Oscar contenders of fall. It's the perfect time to think "silents." We can't actually hear them sighing in ecstasy, but it isn't hard to imagine from those shimmering "pictures" what was happening on the "silver screen" back in the early days of film when actual silver was [...]
Never mind The Force-- I HAVE AWAKENED! The latest installment of STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS has pulled me out of the Doldrums of Prequel (a group of empty islands way off the coast of the Star Wars franchise) and takes us home, back to the tale's original charm, storytelling, irresistible characters, sense of adventure, humor and excitement, and creates new characters [...]
The blockbusters and the hidden gems are battling it out this summer, and here are the winners and losers according to my calculations. I bit the bullet and saw the number one movie in the country: JURASSIC WORLD-- the JURASSIC PARK sequel that's tearing up the box office, with the biggest opening of all time anywhere, ever, on [...]
I've had women on the brain at the movies lately, and we are out there in significant numbers this season along with the boys of summer. I happened to see two sequels MAD MAX: FURY ROAD and PITCH PERFECT 2 on the same day and fully expected to tolerate the former and enjoy the latter. Not even close. PITCH "imperfect" began with a crude joke, meandered [...]
