Monthly Archives: May 2021

What’s the old joke? “Authenticity is the hardest thing to fake?” The new “countdown to my big ‘homecoming’ concert” documentary, “The Boy from Medellin,” presents a portrait of an artist under a lot of stress. José Álvaro Osorio Balvin, aka … Continue reading →

Robert Mitchum was a high-mileage/hard-miles 57 when he took on Raymond Chandler’s iconic private eye Philip Marlowe in 1975’s “Farewell, My Lovely,” a character immortalized by Bogie in “The Big Sleep” in a story of that had been filmed twice … Continue reading →

“The Water Man” is a gorgeous looking tween fantasy/adventure in the “Bridge to Terabithia” tradition, well-cast and designed to tug at the heartstrings. But the feature directing debut of co-star David Oyelowo (“Selma”) is a Bridge to Nowhere — dramatically … Continue reading →

Imagine the nerds from “The Big Bang Theory” stumbling into the plot of “Taken,” or pretty much any Liam Neeson out-for-revenge thriller. Now imagine them Danish. That’s “Riders of Justice,” the dark, bloody, sweet and sometimes hilarious comic thriller from … Continue reading →

“Citizen Penn” is a documentary about Sean Penn‘s path from Oscar-winner, tabloid target and sometimes hectoring political activist to a humanitarian aid worker of the first order, a Hollywood star who has turned his celebrity into a magnet for drawing … Continue reading →

It’s established fact that “time travel” is the best plot to lean on if you want to make sci-fi on an indie film budget. “Cerebrum” is a twisty, confusing time bending tale of a son (Christian James) who walks into … Continue reading →

Could a Rainer Werner Fassbinder become a star filmmaker today? That’s a question that comes to mind in the scruffy, seamy but accurate portrait of him that emerges from “Enfant Terrible,” director Oscar Roehler’s film biography of the wunderkind of … Continue reading →

“The Human Factor” aims to be a sort of “how we got here” depiction of the impasse in efforts to obtain peace between Israel, the Palestinians and Syrians in the Middle East. Israeli filmmaker Dror Moreh (“Sharon,” “The Gatekeepers”) limits … Continue reading →

“Ondine” is one of those Irish dramedies that you see as you’re scrolling down this or that streaming menu (Roku, Tubi, etc. have it) and you wonder, “Haven’t I seen that?” It’s a sea sprite romance — “Selkies,” they’re called. … Continue reading →

I submit that even at this late date, with director Stanley Kubrick long parked near the top of the cinematic pantheon, that we’re allowed to watch at least the first 20 minutes of the first jewel in his crown, “The … Continue reading →