Monthly Archives: October 2018

“Brampton’s Own” is a wistful baseball romance that makes its home in the “impossible dream” futility of life in the minor leagues. It doesn’t offer many surprises, but a good cast and a few moments make it a perfectly watchable … Continue reading →

Actually, actor Leon Bridges plays the famous jazz composer, singer and poet, in “First Man.” It’s in the “Why are we spending all this money on space travel?” montage. Back in my public radio jazz program hosting days, I’d play … Continue reading →

There’s a famous quote from the great French filmmmaker Jean Renoir, an expat who spent World War II in Hollywood trying to make his brand of important, politically allegorical films in “The Dream Factory.” All Hollywood needs, he said at … Continue reading →

An American enigma comes poetically and touchingly to life in “First Man,” a nervy account of the American space program and the astronaut years of Neil Armstrong, culminating with “One small step for man.” Ryan Gosling, like Sam Shepard’s Chuck … Continue reading →

What kind of lowlife would bet on Little League baseball games? Not the Little League World Series. Surely Vegas has action on that. I’m talking local sandlot ball, small town, setting “the line” and all that? If you’ve seen any … Continue reading →

Veronica, “Ronnie” to her friends, sees dead people. But that’s OK. Everybody does. Ever since “The Event.” And in “a world where the dead walk among the living,” there are rules. “They can’t alter their imagery…They can’t affect our natural world.” … Continue reading →

Storyteller Gcina Mhlophe coaches orphan schoolchildren in Swaziland to create their own adventure story, which becomes the basis for “Liyana,” a marvelous blend of kids telling a story they’re making up and artist Shofela Coker rendering their words into images. “You are … Continue reading →

Demonic possession, you say? “I’ve seen MANY things,” says the priest. So much for white picket fences, settling down and starting a family. “Isabelle” looks B-movie creepy and has a not-quite-set 2019 release on tap.  

That’s the image we all have of Stan Lee, Mr. Marvel, jaunty self-nicknamed “Stan the Man,” the grinning, self-mocking mascot of the comic book universe he presided over, cameo good lock charm in the legions of blockbuster films that come … Continue reading →

Love these guys, love Queen (another trailer with Freddie and Friends), love old British “motors.” What’s not to love in this trailer to the limited series “Good Omens” coming to Amazon Prime in the spring, hmm? Michael Sheen is an … Continue reading →