The professional relationship between director May el-Toukhy and actress Trin Dyrholm is becoming quite important to world cinema. From their collaboration on the enjoyable relationship film “Long Story Short” to the Bergmanesque brilliance of the Danish series “The Legacy,” the two artists seem to have an artistic symmetry to their collaborations. The director gets naturally powerful performances ... more >
MOVIES
MOVIE REVIEW: Queen of Hearts
Trine Dyrholm, Gustav Lindh and Magnus Krepper
Directed by May El-Toukhi
MOVIE REVIEW: “The Laundromat”
Directed by Steven SoderberghSteven Soderbergh is perhaps our most adventurous filmmaker. He straddles the worlds of big-budget Hollywood and Independent cinema with ease and skill. We never know what kind of film he will do next and, good or bad, Soderbergh always surprises. His latest film is “The Laundromat,” a look at the Panama Papers scandal based ever so loosely on Jake Bernstein’s book “Secrecy World.” Adapted ... more >
FILM REVIEW: Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’ is a sprawling masterpiece, Joe Pesci gives memorable performance
Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Scorsese has directed many a cinematic winner. But, with the exception of 2016’s “Silence” (which I found to be brilliant on so many levels) it had been a while since the accolades of brilliance could be applied to this filmmaker. Make no mistake, it is rare when he fumbles, and most of his films have found their way unto my Ten Best lists of their respective years. But over the last decade, ... more >
Putting music to film and film to music, to great effect, “Western Stars”
Co-directed by Bruce Springsteen and Thom Zimny
Cinematography by Joe DeSalvo
Bruce Springsteen and Thom Zimny’s “Western Stars” is more than a concert film. Both structurally and musically, this unique cinema experience is an homage to the life and philosophies of the American Western. The film and album are based on the constant struggle for individualism while maintaining a connection to family and friends, the eternal struggle of the cowboy. Performing all thirteen ... more >
SHE’S JUST A SHADOW (Japanese manga meets grindhouse? Yes, please)
Tao Okamoto and Haruka Abe
Directed by Adam Sherman
“Women. No matter how human they seem... they’re just shadows. But on the other hand, aren’t we all?” From the edges of the bizarre and the extremely weird, “She’s Just A Shadow” is truly something else. The matriarch of a Tokyo prostitution empire, married to a vicious and violent pimp, leads her own gang against rival yakuza. All the while, a serial killer prey on her girls and one of her ... more >
“Dolemite” is his name. Get used to it.
Eddie Murphy, Keegan-Michael Key and Mike Epps
“Dolemite is My Name”, the new film from the immensely-talented Craig Brewer, is a pleasant surprise and certainly one of the most entertaining and emotionally satisfying films I have seen this year. The wildly-vulgar character of Dolemite was the brainchild of struggling seventies comedian Rudy Ray Moore. Moore's material was too raw for the major record labels of those days, but the success ... more >
Brad Pitt sets off in search of a father in mesmerizing “Ad Astra”
Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones and Ruth Negga
Directed by James Gray
“Ad astra,” the new film by James Gray, is more meditation than story. The title (one half of the latin phrase “per aspera ad astra” or “through hardships to the stars”) is apt given the amount of time travel and the fascinating hardware that allows it, though the tale meanders, causing some confusion. With various stellar transportation modes, it takes us from one distant planet to the next ... more >