Monthly Archives: November 2014

No, we’re not talking Bruins or Gophers or Badgers here. “Red Army” is a documentary about Soviet Era hockey — how it was built, what the one party dictatorship used it for and how it was perceived INSIDE the USSR, … Continue reading →

“Beyond the Lights” is another pain-behind-the-music romance. But it’s so well written, cast and played that we lose ourselves in the comfort food familiarity of it all. This hip hop era “Bodyguard” has heart and soul, thanks to stars Gugu … Continue reading →

Maziar Bahari was a reporter in the right place at the right time. An Iranian ex-pat turned Western journalist, he toted a video camera and moved with smiling, cautious ease through his native land — catching up with his mom, … Continue reading →

Only the faintest echo of hippy magic clings to “Always Woodstock,” a romantic-comedy-with-music set in the storied village where all that musical and cultural history was made on Yasgur’s Farm over half a century ago. “Always” is about Catherine, a … Continue reading →

Blame the jaw-dropping, laugh-out-loud but still hot werewolf sex scene. Who knew she-werewolves got their underwear ideas (boy cut) from “Sex and the City”? Embrace the high-end transformation effects, the inspired casting of Jason “Conan” Momoa as a were-villain. Cackle … Continue reading →

“Miss Meadows” never just walks anywhere. When you’re always in tap shoes, you never know when the urge to do a heel tap or paradiddle will strike you. Unfailingly polite and genteel, she wears white gloves. Always. She never says … Continue reading →

A great performance makes us forget the actor and see only their creation. That’s what happens in “The Theory of Everything.” We forget Eddie Redmayne’s meticulous efforts to recreate the brilliant physicist Stephen Hawking, a great thinker trapped in a … Continue reading →

Tommy Lee Jones has turned into a pretty fair filmmaker in his later career. And Hilary Swank has emerged as a probable heir to Meryl Streep and Hepburn — so committed, so immersive, that it’s rare that she turns up … Continue reading →

The story of the demented Olympic wrestling fan/coach from the chemical cash DuPont clan and his protege, “Foxcatcher” is built on performances by Steve Carell as DuPont, Channing Tatum as his star athlete and Mark Ruffalo as a fellow coach … Continue reading →