They didn't make my Five Fave Films of 2017 so far, nor are they all the Boston area Film Critics choices, but here’s another batch of films, like cookies for the holidays-- yummy & crummy; some to be savored, some to be consumed guiltily in the dark, and some cookies, well, should be tossed. [...]
It's been another tough year for me at the movies. The swamp of desperately-plotted comedy and superhero sequels clogged with action sludge-- pulled me down, but not out. I hung on until late fall, when the cinematic floodgates opened to release a wave of excellent movies I'm still riding. I have not yet seen PHANTOM [...]
It happened this weekend: The BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS (of which I am a veteran member) met for the 37th time and voted Paul Thomas Anderson's PHANTOM THREAD (which a significant number of critics have not yet seen) starring Daniel Day-Lewis in his ostensible farewell performance as a fictional couturier, the BEST FILM [...]
I have been beyond bored with movies this season. THOR still dominates the box office and is playing on 3 screens at my local multiplex. Just not excited about the god of thunder or comedy sequels: DADDY'S HOME 2 (second place at the box office) or A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS both featuring intergenerational hi-jinks at [...]
BLADE RUNNER 2049 continues a tale that asks what it means to be human, but despite being almost an hour longer than the original, is a much more routine experience, building on the first installment without expanding its thematic footprint. The sequel lacks the tension, the mystery, and the emotional resonance of 1982's BLADE RUNNER, but is [...]
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 [...]
A few more SCREEN GRABS in the dog days of summer--and none of the following are dogs: DUNKIRK: If you haven't already, see this masterful and intimate experience of the grueling WWII battle when the Nazis had 400,000 Allied troops-- British, French, and Belgian--trapped on the beach at Dunkirk but they never surrendered; [...]
After combing through the listings of franchise-fatigued superheroes now clogging big screens everywhere, I've come up with a list of well-made, challenging, and engrossing films for folks as sick of vacuous action adventure as I am. Over the next few days I'll write about the following films that left me reeling: BABY DRIVER, THE BIG [...]
Happy summer one and all! A pro-LONG-ed bout of pneumonia and a vacation abroad has kept me away from my website for awhile-- but I'm back up to speed with a slew of movies over the next few days and some "must-see" theater to recommend. Today I begin with the WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL about [...]
HURRY! WIN complimentary passes to Fathom Events: THE MET: LIVE IN HD 2016-17 SERIES – DER ROSENKAVALIER To enter-to-win please click on the link below and fill out the required information. https://tinyurl.com/hrfdgfk Winners will receive their passes via email. Passes will be valid at the specified locations and guarantee you a seat up until 10 [...]
