MOVIES

IN THEATERS TODAY: Alice Rohrwacher’s “LA CHIMERA”

Starring Josh O'Connor and Carol Duarte
Directed by Alice Rohrwacher

Alice Rohrwacher's latest film, "La Chimera," is an ambitious and self-aware rumination on life, death, and heartbreak. Through the imaginative style of its director, the film is playful and charming yet ultimately heartbreaking. Using multiple film formats, Rohrwacher's visual choices (a mixture of 35 & 16mm along with Super 16) create an occasionally magical spell. While the story is rooted ... more >

SXSW24: Recap

Austin is a great city to explore and enjoy any time of the year, but when SXSW comes to town, it's a whole other level of stimulation: music, movies, cocktails, tech, mixers, parties, and celebrities. I was able to spend a few days in and around the capital city of Texas to take in the sights and sounds of this unique place. Regrettably, I couldn't get in as many films as I typically like at a ... more >

Nicholas Winton saved 669 lives during World War II and “ONE LIFE” is in tribute to him | Film Review

Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn and Helena Bonham-Carter
Directed by James Hawes

Hebrew scripture says, "he who saves one life saves the world entire." At the beginning of World War II, Nicholas Winton was instrumental in the complex relocation of 669 mostly Jewish children, moving them from Czechoslovakia to Britain, the operation known as kindertransport. The true story is fascinating. Director James Hawes's "One Life," the telling of Winton's story, is a somewhat staid but ... more >

Be open to the fanciful (you’ll be rewarded); “PROBLEMISTA” | Review

Starring Tilda Swinton and Julio Torres
Directed by Julio Torres

Written and directed by its star, Julio Torres, the new semi-surrealistic comedy “Problemista” belongs in the category of the un-categorizable. While not as strong, Torres’ film could be mentioned in the same breath as Boots Riley’s “Sorry to Bother You” and Miranda July’s “Me and You and Everyone We Know.” These films take a serious subject and color it with whimsy and artistic imagery, giving a ... more >

A dark vision of rural America and a visceral moviegoing experience | “RED RIGHT HAND”

Starring Orlando Bloom, Andie MacDowell, Garret Dillahunt and Brian Geraghty
Directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms

Over the past decade Appalachian-set thrillers have had a rough go of it. 2015’s “The World Made Straight,” “Them That Follow” (2019), they lacked substance. The Ron Howard-directed “Hillbilly Elegy” and “Devil’s Peak” by Ben Young were misguided efforts whose superior casts did not fulfill their promise. This year thankfully brings us Eshom and Ian Nelms’s “Red Right Hand”, a well-directed ... more >

“HE WENT THAT WAY” | Movie Review

Starring Jacob Elordi, Patrick J. Adams, Zachary Quinto and Troy Evans
Directed by Jeffrey Darling

A man with an ice skating chimpanzee picks up a hitchhiking serial killer. What sounds like the beginning of a joke is actually a true story and the basis for the flawed new film “He Went That Way.” In 1964, a man named Dave Pitts was traveling Route 66 with his trained chimpanzee (who skated in the Ice Capades) when he picked up a young man in need of a ride. His passenger turned out to be a ... more >

“THE MONK AND THE GUN”; film review

Starring Tandin Wangchuk, Deki Lhamo, Harry Einhorn and Pema Zangmo Sherpa
Directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji

The influence of the Western world: is it good for the planet? History shows that, perhaps, the U.S. needs to stop pushing our ways on every shore on which we land. Writer/director Pawo Choyning Dorji’s “The Monk and the Gun” examines the pitfalls of democracy and cautions embracing modernization in a land not yet open to the outside world. Dorii’s film contrasts the Bhutanese way of life with the ... more >