The Danish Girl is a beautiful film—warm and thought-provoking. It moved a bit too slowly for my preference, but I get that. It is about the characters and their difficult journey in navigating an emotional state of their marriage and life. This character study needed a pulled-back pace. It needed time to reflect on what…
I had no idea how much I would enjoy this movie. But I did. As with another seen that week, the theme was nostalgia. And again, it worked. Creed is, essentially, Rocky retold. But Rocky worked for what it was. And so does Creed. Granted, it is a typical boxing movie. And I’m not at…
If you know me and know anything about this movie, you’ll likely–and correctly–guess that I enjoyed it. The movie is a wonderful, aptly timely, social commentary on bigotry, fear, and the risk of being quick to judge and quick to condemn. The story follows the screenwriter Dalton Trumbo while he is blacklisted in Hollywood. The…
As is within my realm of reflections, this movie, less than a year old, was fair game for review. I’m glad I took the time to watch it. Love and Mercy is certainly not a traditional biopic. It jumps between Brian Wilson as a younger Beach Boy to his life as an adult in the…
I laughed—loudly out loud. I snorted. I groaned. I rolled my eyes. I exclaimed loudly—more than once. Yes, that is the kind of comedy The Night Before is. And it’s a wonderful respite in a season of otherwise (for me) heavy movies. (‘Tis okay. I do this to myself.) Seth Rogan did not disappoint. And…
Brooklyn (the novel, as distinguished from the new movie) is a wonderfully written book that gently shares the story of a young girl as she moves from Ireland to Brooklyn, starting life over in the 1950s. The tale touched me particularly as someone who just visited Ireland and who was struck by the sadness of…
Suffragette provides a glimpse into a dim area of history. It’s a good movie, solid in its cast and tale. But it does not rise above the bleakness that surrounds the story. And it will not appeal to many, even if those many prefer not to admit the horrible treatment of women for so long.…
I remember the 2004 election. I remember it being one of the first during which I paid a bit more attention to candidates and positions (rotely following the herd in my past). I remember being in the midst of an internal shift in the way I viewed politics. But I don’t clearly remember the events…
I should admit some things as I share my thoughts on the movie, Steve Jobs. First, I am all-Apple. I made the leap as many did initially with the iPhone (I graduated from my not-at-all-smart Nokia to an iPhone 3G (or 3Gs? I don’t recall) around ‘08 or ’09. Then a few years ago, I…
Adultery—-it’s painful stuff. It’s one thing to be the adulterer. It’s another thing to be the other person. It’s something else—and I say much greater—to be the one cheated on, the one who accepts or turns a blind eye or even who is blindsided. But imagine the teen or preteen child of the married couple…
I’ve never read David Foster Wallace’s work (yet), but you needn’t have in order to dive deep into the new movie about his interview by Rolling Stone’s David Lipsky, who spent several days with the author while Wallace wrapped up his book tour on the heels of publishing Infinite Jest in 1996. After Wallace’s suicide…
What an interesting, engaging film Tangerine is. Occurring all in the course of a day, Christmas Eve, the movie follows Sin-Dee, a transgender prostitute just released from four weeks in jail, as she tries to find her boyfriend/pimp and confront him for cheating on her while she was in jail. To sum up the movie…
Sunk deeply into an overstuffed sofa, snuggling under a cozy blanket in front of a warm fire in the fireplace, cold rain falling outside, but inside, holding a mug of tea or cocoa between your hands, and your favorite pet leaning on your leg. That’s how watching I’ll See You in My Dreams was. Gentle.…
I think I visibly jumped (and grabbed my movie companion) at least three times while watching The Gift, so I’m comfortable in saying that as a suspenseful movie, it did its job. And it entertained. For a couple of hours on a rainy Sunday summer afternoon, I immersed myself in the story of this midlife…
I was tickled to see another performance by Jacksonville’s local Five and Dime Theater Company, and as expected, they did not disappoint. First, the play: Clybourne Park is a powerful commentary on the changing face of urban neighborhoods—-tracing the “white flight” to suburbs and the subsequent gentrification of those original locales. The play, set in…