Drama
The Green Knight
THE GREEN KNIGHT I’m confident that none of my friends or family will enjoy The Green Knight unless they are familiar with the ancient story. Even knowing the story, most would be bored since The Green Knight is a slow-moving Indie-like drama. The Green Knight is a medieval fantasy film loaded with symbolism and magic…
Best Sellers
BEST SELLERS Best Sellers is a comedy drama released in September 2021. Aubrey Plaza (The Little Hours) is the female lead, Michael Caine (Tenet) is the male lead. One of the production companies on this film is Chicken Soup for the Soul, a socially conscious company making stories since 1993 with positive content that brings…
Come From Away
COME FROM AWAY Come From Away, a Broadway musical is one of the rare joyful remembrances of 9/11. The heartache and confusion of that day are present in Come From Away. But the all-inclusive generosity and respect of people that come together and help each other is the emotion you take away. Come From Away…
How I Live Now
HOW I LIVE NOW How I Live Now, a 2013 drama romance film, is a small quiet film that tackles a huge problem (nuclear war in Europe) on a small scale (how four kids deal with the war). The film is not too bloody or horrifying, and it is not a children’s film. How I…
Pig
PIG Don’t listen to college-aged adults for movie recommendations. They told me Nicholas Cage “goes John Wick” in this Independent drama Pig (referring to the 2014 film John Wick). Some of the official publicity for the film also wrongly compared Pig to John Wick. At the onset of the drama Pig, everything points to Ron…
The Dig
THE DIG You must genuinely enjoy sad, slow, and quiet English dramas to enjoy The Dig, where happiness is rare, but unrequited love and lack of respect are flourishing. However, The Dig is an interesting story – based upon an event that happened in England just before the start of WWII – and The Dig…
Sword of Trust
SWORD OF TRUST Sword of Trust is a comedy written, directed, and produced by the late Lynn Shelton. At the time of her unexpected death at 54, Ms. Shelton was in a relationship with Marc Maron, who stars in this film. Sword of Trust is an excellent example of mumblecore writing. Mumblecore is a type…
Saving Private Ryan
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN Every once and a while, you should watch the epic war movie Saving Private Ryan. I grew up with a dad who glamorized war movies. He and I watched those old black and white patriotic WWII movies. My dad served his WWII duty in North Carolina, not to his fault. My dad…
Kajillionaire
KAJILLIONAIRE A Grifter family: A family that engages in petty or small-scale swindling The Breast Crawl Fear of earthquakes and flying A limping Debra Winger Unrecognizable Evan Rachel Woods Meeting Melanie (Gina Rodriquez) on a plane 5 PM weeping walls You named your daughter Old Dolio? Pretending to act like a typical family while the…
Blue Miracle
BLUE MIRACLE It is June 2021, and everyone’s talking about In the Heights. Did you see In the Heights? In the Heights is excellent; you have to watch In The Heights. I chose a different Latino movie, Blue Miracle. Blue Miracle is a wholesome drama that brings together blue marlin sports fishing in Cabo San…
The White Tiger
THE WHITE TIGER The White Tiger is a rags-to-riches story of a Low Caste Indian boy. The main protagonist Balram (Adarsh Gourav) tells the story as he writes an email to the Chinese Premier explaining his life. Balram wants to show by his example that India is full of Entrepreneurs that can help China. “India…
Shadow in the Cloud
SHADOW IN THE CLOUD Shadow in the Cloud, an action-horror film on Hulu, is a tremendous opportunity for Chloë Grace Moretz, and she is powerful in the role. Most of the film is a one-woman show with Chloe Grace Moretz as Officer Maude Garrett in the bottom turret (Sperry) of a B-17 bomber flying over…
I’m Your Woman
I’M YOUR WOMAN I do not like the title (I never would have watched I’m Your Woman unless my wife made me asked to watch it). I did not like the first half; it is slow, with baby Harry crying all the time and many unknowns. But the second half makes it worth watching (my…
Blindspotting
BLINDSPOTTING Blindspotting is a 2018 comedy-drama buddy film – heavier on the drama – set in the gentrifying parts of Oakland, California. Daveed Diggs (Hamilton, Snowpiercer TV series) and Rafael Casal (Good Lord Bird) wrote, produced, and starred in Blindspotting, their first film taking ten years to write. This 2018 film is more relevant today…
News of the World
NEWS OF THE WORLD The Western drama News of the Day is sometimes slow, and sometimes an intense story about discovery and survival. However, it includes the warmest and happiest ending I have seen this year. Tom Hanks (Greyhound, Sleepless in Seattle) is superb as Captain Jefferson Lyle Kidd traveling through 1870 Texas reading the…
Mank
MANK You open the Netflix app, and most movies are not made for someone like me, a fully developed and functioning, cynical adult who watches films. Netflix caters to teenagers through thirty-somethings. Content contains loads of coming-of-age, young romance, teenage angst, and British films. I watch a lot of it, enjoy it, but it doesn’t…
Pieces of a Woman
PIECES OF A WOMAN Denial – Anger – Bargaining – Depression – Acceptance are the Stages of Grief developed by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and published in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying. Through the 80s, one would hear references about these grief stages in popular literature; not so much lately. Pieces of a Woman is…
- 2020
- Drama
Martha Marcy May Marlene
MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE Martha Marcy May Marlene is an unsatisfying and frustrating 2011 thriller by a first-time writer and director, Sean Durkin. The lead character is Elizabeth Olsen (MCU’s Scarlet Witch, WandaVision), and this film is her first starring role. The presence of Elizabeth Olsen is probably the only reason this film is still…
Herself
HERSELF Herself, an Irish drama, is a rollercoaster of emotions that does an excellent job examining domestic abuse—released on Prime Video January 8, 2021. Sandra (Clare Dunne), a wonderful Mother of two girls, finally leaves her abusive husband. She goes on public assistance, however it takes years to get into a house. So, Sandra decides to…
- 2020
- Drama
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM If you are unaware of the playwright August Wilson’s work, and you click on Netflix’s drama Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom thinking you will learn about Ma Rainy and hear a bunch of Blues’ music, you will probably be unsatisfied. You will hear some music and learn a little about Ma Rainy…