This new film, the Weinstein Company’s Oscar hopeful, is in a genre that I call “Life Affirmance”. Such films are usually based on the compelling experiences of real people, and are designed to connect to audiences on a deeply personal level. They nearly always end on an upbeat note, where some kind of triumph […]
Revenge, as the saying goes, is a dish best served cold. There is little warmth to be found in Park Chan-wook’s brilliant The Handmaiden, but the filmmaker makes sure to serve bunches of wit and sexy fun along with it. It is essentially a dark tale, however, that sits comfortably alongside Park’s other work, like Oldboy, […]
This is one of the more curious docudramas I’ve seen recently, and it’s still unclear to me what the filmmakers were trying to do. The story, which is well-known, is about the libel suit filed in England by David Irving against Deborah Lipstadt, an American, because she accused him of falsifying his research in […]
For personal reasons, I wasn’t able to see as many films at this year’s festival as I was last year. I didn’t go to the glamor events, so I’m only going to write about the films. I saw five features from the main slate at Alice Tully Hall, a perfect venue for it. Although four […]
As far as cynical satires about war profiteers go, War Dogs, directed by Todd Phillips from a script by Jason Smilovic, Stephen Chin and Phillips, is one of the better ones. The story itself, based on a Rolling Stone article by Guy Lawson, is about two young Miami hotshots who fumble their way into getting […]
It’s been a while since I wrote about something other than film, but this novel presented a unique challenge. In fact, it is hard to imagine a reader who would not feel forced to examine their deepest feelings about its subject. (By the way, Paul Schrader made a film of the book in 1997, which […]
Sometimes filmmakers see possibilities in the life of some obscure historical figure, betting that audiences will find reward in their stories. But it’s hard to see why anyone would be interested in Florence Foster Jenkins. A rich heiress, and classical music patroness, she gained national attention during World War II when she gave a vocal […]
Cartoon satire, especially as a feature film, is risky. Audiences expect cartoons to be family-friendly, and there are few cartoon feature films that appealed to adult moviegoers looking for sharp, funny, downright dirty entertainment. But it’s happened, and the filmmakers were admired for the risks they took. Ralph Bakshi’s Fritz The Cat was just such […]
The “early bird” deadline for the 7th Annual Queens World Film Festival is on August 29, 2016. If you want your film to be considered for this prestigious festival, you should be preparing your submission now. Either Without a Box or Film Freeway can be used. Katha and Don Cato will again be directing the […]
This cogent, powerful film of a Phillip Roth novel, which had its world premiere at Sundance, serves the writer particularly well. Its protagonist, Marcus, is an 18-year old Jewish boy in 1951 America, and he is as opinionated, self-righteous and resentful as the other Roth heroes I can remember – which is why they’ve always […]
