Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday” is a delight almost to the end. How can it not be? First of all, perfect pitch by both Himesh Patel (Jack) and the too-lovely-for-words Lily James (Ellie). Patel is Jack Malik, a store employee who, through a blackout on earth and being hit by a bus, wakes up in an alternate world where he is the one and only person who knows the Beatles. A third-rate musician who kind of ... more >
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127 Hours
In movies nothing good ever happens on a mountain unless you’re Julie Andrews and then good things happen to you everywhere. There’s Kevin MacDonald’s documentary “Touching the Void” about a mountain-climbing expedition shot to hell. And what was that mountain disaster movie that at first advertised its cannibalism but later changed to a triumph of the human spirit angle? I‘m not sure if ... more >

Slumdog Millionaire
At one point in the much-praised crowd-pleaser Slumdog Millionaire, the poor child siblings scratch out a small living by appointing themselves as tour guides at the Taj Mahal. For a small fee, the young Muslims lead white tourists through India’s most famous monument. They tell them what they know. When they don’t know, they make up. The reflecting pool, it turns out, has always been a nice place ... more >