My timing in seeing films sometimes causes wonder in me. Watching the painfully self-destructive, fatal behavior of an addict on the screen rips at my heart. Seeing the vacant stare that hides the apparent hurt and pain behind those eyes brings such sadness. These are the things that rang out to me in watching Amy, the…
I love that spark of excitement that happens when, with fall on the horizon, I see that first grand performance of the movie year. That happened with Ian McKellan’s performance in Mr. Holmes. The film is indeed about that Mr. Holmes, as in Sherlock. But I didn’t go because I’m a fan of that literature. And…
I enjoyed this film—for what it was and for what it did not do. Sure, it could have been deeper. It could have been darker. But even the title indicated it wasn’t trying to do those things. And it was nice to see a country through a different lens than the one permanently smudged and…
Trainwreck is fun and funny and, most importantly, although formulaic, refreshingly unconventional. Directed by Judd Apatow, the same who directed Bridesmaids and The 40 Year-Old Virgin, the movie brings the raunchy side of humor, but at the same time, it’s sweet. There are elements in the film that touched me (but no, this would not…
Funny Girl was a joy to read. Light. Easy. Funny. And different. Set in the 60s, the novel follows the early career path of a young lady in England who wants an acting career—in comedy. Lucille Ball is her hero. Television is her goal. So the subject matter being an unknown (and inexperienced) actress pursuing…
Over the course of reading this book, I described it a few different ways. Initially, it felt disjointed and too jumpy. Then I settled into the rhythm. I began to learn the characters and their relations. And I started to read the stories of Teddy’s life—-those disorganized, jumping around, no respect to chronology stories—-I started…
ROAR. “Can’t go thru life without seeing this.” When I asked my movie companion if he would indulge me in seeing this movie as our chosen film one evening, I described it and sent a write-up I’d found. The above was his reply. And even having seen it now, having cringed and rolled my eyes…
What a fantastic, fun read The Stranger is. I’d never read Harlan Coben until now, so his style of fast-paced suspense was new to me, and its different nature from so many other books I’ve read lately was welcome and refreshing. As a mystery, this truly was a page-turner. The general premise brings a stranger…
I have such admiration for Al Letson, a Jacksonville local and the creator and host of State of the Re:Union* on NPR, “a series of in-depth, compelling stories exploring communities and how they are connected.” He also hosts “Freestyle: A Mixtape with Al Letson, “an original broadcast combining storytelling, podcasts and other public radio content.” I first saw…
What clever fun! What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary (yep, new word I’d never heard until this flick) that takes a “real world”-ish view of a few vampires who share a flat in New Zealand. And it does it with wit and a wink and a whole lot of laughter. On the…
Goodness, how does this happen? I saw Citizen Four back in November. I know that I did. I went with a group. It’s on my calendar. I saw it. But I never wrote about it. How does this happen? But just now, watching the Oscars much past my bedtime, I recalled that I’d indeed seen…
I’ve said before that sometimes I need time before I write about a movie. Usually, that’s just a couple or a few days to let a movie sit and settle inside of my mind, wanting my review to reflect not only my gut reaction but also any lingering impressions. American Sniper, though, took weeks. Several…
A Most Violent Year was a welcome movie that was just what you want sometimes at this stage of the Oscar-watching madness when I saw this in early February: simply a good movie. Good acting. Good story. Good entertainment. And an absence of heavy controversy. (Don’t get me wrong, you all know that I love…
A French film (with subtitles), but not nominated as Best Foreign film, Two Days, One Night came on my radar through its fantastic performance by its lead actress, Marion Cotillard. Cotillard has the nomination for Best Actress (some say taking the spot otherwise that would have gone to Jennifer Aniston for Cake), and Cotillard, as…
The Homesman is a dreary movie, but dreariness aside, it’s also a good movie. It shows the brutal and bitter side of frontier life, a life I cannot imagine how—or why—those brave souls in the past took on. But it shows too how that life destroyed not only lives but minds of some of those…