Adam Driver is an actor without enough awards. If I were Empress of the Academy, he would have won hands down for Marriage Story and ditto for his performance in Annette. White Noise isn’t award worthy, BUT Driver is totally believable and admirable as the geeky college professor/husband/father in Noah Baumbach’s White Noise. What the… Continue reading White Noise: Driver’s Poise
Category: dark film based on a book
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
First, I want to give a shout out to the original Pinocchio author, Carlo Collodi, a fine Sagittarian born on November 24th and who died at 63 back in 1890. With that acknowledgement out of the way, let me say I was pumping the brakes during the first ten minutes of GdT’s Pinocchio, thinking aw… Continue reading Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
I found out about Stars at Noon at 11:59 A.M.
Jiminey Crickets, if I had known about Stars at Noon (screenplay co-written by and directly fully by Claire Denis) I would have begged for a talk back opportunity. Why do some films get so little press when they are quality, and others, like Halloween 17 or whatever the candy corn name is, get a lot… Continue reading I found out about Stars at Noon at 11:59 A.M.
The Lost Daughter, A Slippery Slope
I loved the book The Lost Daughter, as Elena Ferrante’s character wrestled with her wanderlust, her desire to excel professionally and experience midlife hedonism. But the movie? Not so much. The harsh visual reality of exasperated mothers who simply induce more needy children was deeply affecting, but in a depressing way. Adapted to screenplay and… Continue reading The Lost Daughter, A Slippery Slope
The Devil All the Time (switch out Violence for Devil)
An often asked interview question is “if you could have four dinner guests, who would they be?” and typically, people name Jesus, Mother Teresa, Steve Jobs and Freud…you get the idea… Based on my viewing The Devil All the Time, I’d like to dine with Antonio and Paulo Campos (writers and director of said film),… Continue reading The Devil All the Time (switch out Violence for Devil)
The Sunlit Night: ‘Coulda’ been a Contender (if only…)
I use to be disappointed in kids who cheated when I was a teacher, but downright angry when a super smart kid would cheat. That’s why The Sunlit Night made me slightly mad. It’s probably a screenwriter issue, which is a shame in this instance, Rebecca Dinnerstein Knight wrote the book from which the movie… Continue reading The Sunlit Night: ‘Coulda’ been a Contender (if only…)
Shirley, Surely Moss is Due an Oscar Nomination
I’ve seen Elisabeth Moss now in two truly amazing performances, Her Smell and now Shirley, directed by Josephine Decker and written by Sarah Gubbins. Gubbins has written for two of my other favorites, I Love Dick and Better Things. But Moss, while she’s nominated up the wazoo for Mad Men and won for Handmaid’s Tale… Continue reading Shirley, Surely Moss is Due an Oscar Nomination
Ironically Not a Marvel, The Irishman
Dear Mr. Scorsese, You had me at ‘Marvel movies are not films’ having seen my share of 6 minute CGI’d super hero vs. villain fight scenes, HOWEVER, if you’re going to throw stones, check out your house’s (in this case The Irishman) exterior first, because honey, you need an editor who can be Frank who’s… Continue reading Ironically Not a Marvel, The Irishman
Motherless Brooklyn; an orphan in this year’s films
I love Ed Norton. My admiration began in 1996 with “Primal Fear”, where his performance and shockingly cool twist ending made me say, ‘Wow’. From there, in Spike Lee’s super hip “25th Hour” with Philip Seymour Hoffman, moving on to his many Wes Anderson film performances. But the real affection began watching his roast speech… Continue reading Motherless Brooklyn; an orphan in this year’s films
Promise: No Spoilers, “Joker”‘s Wild
(Public Service Announcement: DO NOT TAKE ANYONE UNDER 17 TO THIS!) Joker, directed and co-written by Todd Phillips is worth seeing. I don’t usually see super dark films since I’m sensitive to violence, a hide-behind-my-sweater-type, as well as a staunch believer that what we ingest visually has the psychological nutrition equivalent of gorging on a… Continue reading Promise: No Spoilers, “Joker”‘s Wild