What an intense week. I cannot write anything else before expressing how heartbroken I was to learn that brilliant actor Alan Rickman and musical icon David Bowie died--both Londoners, both at age 69 of cancer. Bowie was an artistic visionary and sonic adventurer who cut an endlessly original and challenging swathe through the musical landscape. We find him [...]
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 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 [...]
A few more good ones left to see this summer and one circling the drain... See MISTRESS AMERICA! Co-writer/director Noah Baumbach's and his muse/co-writer/star Greta Gerwig's hilarious ode to finding your path through and post college. Freshman Tracy (Lola Kirke) is floundering in her first semester and connects with her soon to be older "stepsister by marriage" Brooke [...]
Impossible as it sounds, Tom Cruise has done it again with THE best action/adventure blockbuster mainstream movie of the summer: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION. I would not steer you wrong--this thing works on every level, from its trademark opening action sequence, a ridiculously over the top piece of derring-do which finds Tom hanging off the [...]
I know — it’s summer at the movies, but fear not — there is a way to block those brainless blockbusters with more satisfying alternatives: The 24th annual Woods Hole Film Festival, the oldest on Cape Cod, is set to roll for eight days (July 25 to Aug. 1)! We’re talking more than 100 films showcasing [...]
Did I mention I can't wait to see MAGIC MIKE XXL? (See my Summer Movie Preview Part I) It opens July 1 and kicks the second half of the summer movie season into high gear! Here are the rest of the movies I can't wait to see as the summer movie season heats up! July 1: TERMINATOR: [...]
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 [...]
