Western monarchies in the modern world are a tricky institution, to say the least. Over in England, the Queen is certainly having a rocky time of it recently, even as she approaches […]
There is nothing more problematic than a college diploma. At least, that’s one of the messages I gathered from writer/director Jessica Ellis’s feature film debut, What Lies West, the tale of newly […]
For a film based on true events concerning the first-ever conviction of an FBI agent for murder, very little about Above Suspicion seems believable. Which is not to say it isn’t a […]
With its slightly enlarged heart in the right place, the directing debut from actor David Oyelowo, The Water Man, is an engaging, creative family drama with flashes of fantasy to keep younger […]
Berlin Alexanderplatz originated as an epic 1929 novel by Alfred Döblin; it’s the story of a man who sinks into an underworld of crime as he tries to create a life for […]
Based on the novel by Walter Dean Myers, Monster delves into the scary reality of a young Black man caught up in a murder trial, accused of being a part of a heinous […]
It’s not that I don’t understand some people’s knee-jerk negative reactions to the films of Guy Ritchie, but I remain a fan of his crime dramas—from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels […]
There are probably things that actor/director Sean Penn regrets doing in his life. His affiliations with the likes of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Mexican drug lord Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera […]
In Grímur Hákonarson’s The County, a woman confronts not only the unexpected death of her spouse but the corrupt company that holds a monopoly over the small family farm they’d managed together. During […]
For as identifiable as some animation studios tend to make their films (Pixar’s refined CGI, Laika’s signature stop-motion, Disney’s doe-eyed princesses, etc.), Sony Pictures Animation has never quite settled on a brand […]
In an early scene of Roy Andersson’s About Endlessness, a couple sits on a bench in a park on a hill, overlooking the city below. We only see their backs; they, too, are […]
Not every heartbreak comedy has to be wacky and over the top. Sometimes, it’s okay to play it low key and focus on character. Taking on a rare lead role, Brian Tyree […]
