Monthly Archives: August 2022

Let us begin with a few words in praise of Iyana Halley, the young actress tasked with playing a trope and knocking that trope out of the park. In “Beast,” the “This is Us” ensemble member is the Hollywood idea … Continue reading →

There’s been talk in India of remaking “Forrest Gump” as a pan-historical Indian parable for decades, but landing Aamir Khan as star was what it took to get it made. If Gurinder Chadha can take on Jane Austen for “Bride … Continue reading →

The glib response to George “Mad Max” Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” is suggesting that only Terry Gilliam should be making Terry Gilliam “epics.” That assertion carries the message that it’s sprawling, fantastical and ambitious and that there’s a … Continue reading →

The first-person narration of a killer patiently plotting his “perfect crime,” pitilessly committing it and then going mad by the pounding of “The Tell-Tale Heart” of his long-dead victim is the most sinister component of Edgar Allan Poe’s masterpiece. It’s … Continue reading →

Several things stand out in Viola Davis’ just published memoir, “Finding Me.” She likes to eat, a product of a grueling food-deprived childhood. She’s never been afraid to work out, get in shape — or out of shape — for … Continue reading →

There is nothing finer in the cinema than a simple, well-acted and well-crafted thriller. “Delia’s Gone” checks off all of those boxes in a brisk but methodical and unhurried mystery set in rural Ohio. Damn, it’s good. You know who’s … Continue reading →

Dirty cops are misusing wiretaps and setting up people under surveillance. Dillon’s not one of them. Bruce is. Sept. 2

“A Song for Us” is an inane bordering on insipid Canadian melodrama without the drama. Its sole saving grace is the hippie nostalgia it wallows in, and the fact that I use “wallow” should tell you that’s praising with faint … Continue reading →

Close your eyes and listen to “Man with the Gun” and you can hear hints of “The Mercury Theatre on the Air.” The crisp, crackling dialogue, the brisk pace, it’s a film that has the aural qualities of an Orson … Continue reading →

A mother who leaves, who doesn’t give us a reason — not straight away, anyway. The “Diving Bell and the Butterfly” star directs Krieps and Arieh Worthalter in a screen adaptation of a play by Claudine Galéa, Sept. 9, in theaters. From Kino Lorber.