To Leslie, Welcome to My Revised Top 10

See you later Aftersun…as much praise as has been heaped upon you, I wasn’t as moved as I was by the miracle of film called To Leslie, written by relative newbie Ryan Binaco (3rd film) and directed by another ‘youngin’ Michael Morris (Better Call Saul). The ensemble of actors are so genuine to their characters,… Continue reading To Leslie, Welcome to My Revised Top 10

Emily, Smothering Heights

Emily, written and directed by Golden Globe nominated actress Frances O’Connor, is an inventive tale based on the life of Emily Bronte. For a first time directorial debut, Emily is quite stunning despite its Victorian age setting. Let’s face it, first love stories have been done to death, so for O’Connor to come up with… Continue reading Emily, Smothering Heights

Sylvie of the Sunshine State, When Instincts Pay Off

Preface: I emailed Sasha Levinson, writer and director of the documentary “Sylvie of the Sunshine State” and guess what? She offered to talk with me! What a beautiful spirit the woman has! We talked for almost twenty minutes about parenting and the directors who influence(d) her most. So just like Sasha’s risking vulnerability to place… Continue reading Sylvie of the Sunshine State, When Instincts Pay Off

Living: Many Intimate Moments

Living, a film based on a previous 1952 film by legendary cinema giant Kurosawa was written by Nobel Prize winning author Ishiguro. A creation of such origin was bound to be special and Living, while not a perfect 10, certainly contains many gorgeous moments. Realize that gorgeous doesn’t necessarily mean positive evocative emotions, as some… Continue reading Living: Many Intimate Moments

Corsage: Screenplay copyright check in aisle 3

I took the plunge with Corsage, but it wasn’t easy. In fact, the Corsage movie experience was exactly how I behave when I enter a pool: toe dip, cringe, ‘it’s cold’, ankle, cringe, shin, cringe, torso, cringe, breasts…primal scream…you get the message. My Corsage cringes came in waves, regarding how similar the screenplay story is… Continue reading Corsage: Screenplay copyright check in aisle 3

The Whale Nudges its Way into My Top Ten

If you hated Whale, consider that real things happen to real people; not pretty actors, but real people. And consider that some folks are irrevocably broken, so does that mean their story is not worthy of being told? I wrestled with where to put The Whale in my Top Ten. I had fun trying to… Continue reading The Whale Nudges its Way into My Top Ten

Navalny: Shocking, but sadly not surprising

Navalny, a super worthy documentary by Daniel Roher (creator of the tremendous Once We Were Brothers doc), is the plight of Putin adversary Alexei Navlany, currently incarcerated in a Russian jail. The doc follows Alexi post poisoning and the investigation and discovery of Putin’s henchmen. The story is well told, interspersing lovely moments of Nalvany… Continue reading Navalny: Shocking, but sadly not surprising

White Noise: Driver’s Poise

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