Monthly Archives: November 2022

Sometimes, it seems to me that what we’ve labeled “Westerns” in fiction and on film or TV over the generations really should have been called “Southwesterns.” Because that’s the geography that became iconic in the genre. The combination of arid, … Continue reading →

The first thing that pops out of “Devotion,” the new Korean War Naval aviators action biopic, is how far digitall- animated aircraft and aerial combat have come since the first films to lean heavily on that technology — “Flyboys” and … Continue reading →

You take the cute with the not-nearly-so-cute in the Swedish rom-com “Off Track,” titled “Ur spår” in ABBAland. It’s about a coupling or two, and people destined to bump into each other at the annual cross country Swedish ski race, … Continue reading →

Twenty years after its release, it’s about time to acknowledge what has been obvious since the day it came out. Once upon a time, Peter Hedges, Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke, Oliver Platt, Isaiah Whitlock Jr. and Sean Hayes … Continue reading →

An iconic haute couture footwear brand’s origin story is told in sometimes inspiring strokes in “Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams,” Luca Guadagnino’s story of the life and work of Salvatore Ferragamo. Fashionistas, fashion historians, film historians, modern shoe icon Manolo Blahnik, … Continue reading →

This looks good. Focus can be one of those “Witness Protection Program” distributors, movies you can never find largely because of anemic promotion budgets and efforts, but I’d love to see Dafoe in this guise.

As he approaches his 76th birthday in December, Steven Spielberg can safely be assumed to be in the “memoirs” stage of his life and celebrated career. But as a filmmaker always more comfortable with the language of cinema, it’d be … Continue reading →

A Mid December comic thriller. Could be cute. And violent.

There’s no shouting and very little pleading in “Safe Place,” Croatian writer, director and star Juraj Lerotić’s debut feature. That can be misleading, as the film is about a brother and his mother’s frantic efforts to keep a sibling and … Continue reading →

 The actor Rainn Wilson recently changed his name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson as a way of protesting America’s indifference to the growing climate crisis facing the planet. Young activist Greta Thunberg has devoted her life to challenging … Continue reading →