“The Dinner” – Look up “dinner” in the dictionary, and it reads “the principal meal of the day” and “a formal feast or banquet”. For most households, however, dinner has a larger meaning. It is a time when families congregate to share their experiences and feelings while also - functionally - breaking bread. Sometimes laugher [...]
“The Lost City of Z” – “It is there, and we must find it.” – Col. Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) “Ain’t nobody comes back from up there.” – A disbeliever When traveling, I frequently look to my phone for five-star reviews for some out of the way restaurant or coffee shop. Sure, I may not [...]
“The Promise” – “There are churches and mosques like you wouldn’t believe.” In 1914 Constantinople, this is Mikael Boghosian’s (Oscar Isaac) reaction to Turkey’s most prominent city. Although cultural differences can be a source of tension and divisiveness, Turks and Armenians live in relative harmony during this time, not only in this massive cultural center, [...]
“Tommy’s Honour” – “I love the way the game of golf is lived and played in Scotland. I always have.” – Tom Watson Many, many fans rightfully consider Tom Watson as golf-royalty, but “Tommy’s Honour” is a biopic about another athlete of the links, Tommy Morris (Jack Lowden), a 19th Century prodigy from Scotland. He [...]
“Queen of the Desert” – “I doubt there is anyone in the world as happy as I am now.” – Gertrude Bell (Nicole Kidman) Gertrude Bell was a pioneer, an explorer during the turn of the 20th Century, a time when women were generally not pioneers or explorers. Gertrude’s circumstance is even more unique, because [...]
“Gifted” – “I look like a Disney character!” – Mary Adler (Mckenna Grace) Mary - a seven year old - exclaims the aforementioned comment in utter disgust while dressed in a cute, frilly red outfit. It is her first day of school. Until this particular day, her Uncle Frank (Chris Evans) has homeschooled her, but he [...]
“The Zookeeper’s Wife” – “You can never tell who your enemies are or who to trust. Maybe that’s why I love animals so much. You look in their eyes, and you know exactly what’s in their hearts. They aren’t like people.” - Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain) Antonina (Chastain) and Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh) run a [...]
“The Blackcoat’s Daughter” – “Creepy is better than just plain scary, because you can’t look away from creepy. You want to know the truth.” – Ransom Riggs First-time director Oz Perkins made a confusing film. He made a sinister, spooky, atmospheric, and confusing film. Throughout much of its 1-hour 33-minute runtime, Perkins barely explains why [...]
“Beauty and the Beast” – “Little Town, it’s a quiet village. Every day like the one before.” Director Bill Condon’s live-action adaptation of Disney’s eternally wonderful, animated treasure “Beauty and the Beast” (1991) – which, in turn, was based upon the 1946 French film with the same name - reaches the big screen, and it [...]
“The Sense of an Ending” – “The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant.” - Salvador Dali Tony Webster’s (Jim Broadbent) life appears in order. Retired, he now owns a small, vintage camera shop and [...]
