My Top Ten Movies (2023)
‘Oppenheimer’ tops among best films of 2023 Another year has come and gone at area cineplexes, and it was a transformative 12 months, with movie fans coaxed out of their post-COVID funk by two unstoppable blockbusters, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” The pair, forever known as Barbenheimer, was the talk of the summer, finally luring record crowds […]
Perfect Days (2023)
Yakusho is flawless in the aptly titled ‘Perfect Days’ There’s a reason Kôji Yakusho took home the top acting prize at May’s Cannes Film Festival, and it’s stirringly on display in the Oscar-nominated “Perfect Days,” one of the best character studies you’ll ever witness. Reminiscent of stars from the silent era, Yakusho rarely utters a […]
Scrambled (2024)
‘Scrambled’ blends frozen eggs with warm hearts “Scrambled” is a good egg, serving singleton gags sunny side up with a self-effacing demeanor that goes over easy compliments of writer-director-star Leah McKendrick. By the time she’s finished dishing out her observations on what it’s like to be a 34-year-old with maternal instincts but minus any matrimonial […]
I.S.S. (2023)
‘I.S.S.’ has its own version of ‘Star Wars’ As she proved with the exceptional “Blackfish,” director Gabriela Cowperthwaite is keenly aware that no good can come from trapping rampaging mammals in confined spaces. It’s an insight that serves her well again with “I.S.S.,” a Cold War revival tale pitting sneaky Ruskies against noble Americans aboard […]
How to Have Sex (2023)
Haziness of consent at the heart of ‘Sex’ “How to Have Sex” rides into town on a tsunami of hype generated by last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it captured the Un Certain Regard for its highly original take on the minefield that is teenage sexuality. And much of the puffery surrounding Molly Manning Walker’s […]
Society of the Snow (2023)
‘Society of Snow’ will leave you hungry and cold I’ve never been a fan of writer-director J.A. Bayona (“The Impossible,” “A Monster Calls”), and “Society of the Snow,” his dull, belabored tale of survival of the fittest does nothing to alter that opinion. If you were alive in the late autumn of 1972, you’ll likely […]
Monster (2023)
A kinder, gentler ‘Monster’ Hirokazu Kore-eda has arguably been Japan’s most successful filmmaker of the new millennia, scoring high praise and solid box office for such gems as “Shoplifters,” “After the Storm” and last year’s “Broker.” Thankfully, there is no letting up, as evidenced by his latest (now in theaters), which borrows structurally from fellow […]
Memory (2023)
Flawed ‘Memory’ forgets to be good “Memory” is about how some things are best not remembered – like “Memory.” Instantly forgettable, writer-director Michel Franco’s examination of two troubled souls – one an alcoholic, the other a victim of early onset dementia – is the football equivalent of piling on. It’s not enough that Jessica Chastain’s […]
The Promised Land (2023)
‘Promised Land’ yields a bountiful crop For an abject lesson in being careful what you wish for, Nikolaj Arcel’s “The Promised Land” is tough to beat. Among the contenders on this year’s coveted Oscar shortlist for films in another language, the movie cleverly transplants the American Western to 18th century Denmark, where a personification of […]
Origin (2023)
‘Origin’ casts caste as the root of all evil After stumbling with the disastrous “A Wrinkle in Time,” Ava DuVernay recovers nicely with her thought-provoking “Origin,” an ambitious adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s controversial dissertation, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent.” It sounds dry and academical, I know. But in reality, “Origin” is brimming with insight […]