WANDER DARKLY is the antidote to the generic rom-com. Set in the subjective viewpoint of a woman who is convinced that she is dead, it explores a relationship gone wrong using the unencumbered honesty of retrospection. The woman is Adrienne (Sienna Miller), who is always quick to point out that the father of her infant,… Read More »
MADE IN ITALY
A story well told is always worth our attention, and thus it is with MADE IN ITALY, a heart-warming tale of coming to terms with the past in order to face a future without the burden of unresolved grief and lingering complacency. Set for the most part in the spectacular Tuscan countryside, its pacing and… Read More »
FRANK VS. GOD — Henry Ian Cusick Interview
I may not have had the best phone connection when talking with Henry Ian Cusick on June 7, 2017, but his passion for intriguing roles and material that allows him to stretch as an actor came through clear as a bell. The occasion of our conversation was the online release of FRANK VS. GOD, a… Read More »
PREVENGE
Written and directed with a suitably biting edge by star Alice Lowe, PREVENGE is a droll and razor sharp black comedy of a horror film that considers the terrors of pregnancy and the maternal instinct gone askew. Very askew. Lowe, with a perfect deadpan sense of purpose, wields her kitchen knife as an instrument of… Read More »
THE SHACK
THE SHACK, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, is a well-meaning and heartfelt film that dares to tackle a fiendishly tricky question. If God is good and loves us all, why does She allow evil in the world? Couched in parables and riddles, and for all its gentleness of spirit, it arrives… Read More »
THE LAST WORD — Mark Pellington Interview
Mark Pellington is firmly in touch with his feminine side. It was one of the first thing he talked about when I interviewed him on February 27, 2017. We went on riff on the psychology of the characters in THE LAST WORD, muse on making an entertaining film with substance, and the legacy of the… Read More »
MAX ROSE — Daniel Noah Interview
Daniel Noah didn’t exactly base his film, MAX ROSE, on his own relationship with his beloved grandfather, but the way that grandfather dealt with the grief of losing Noah’s grandmother was the inspiration for the film. Grief is depicted as something with as much vitriol as sadness, which is what sets it apart from most… Read More »
Listen to GRANDMA
After her granddaughter, Sage (Julia Garner), has confided to her that she needs an abortion, Elle (Lily Tomlin) cuts right to the heart of the issue. Not the politics, mind you. Nor the question of how a modern teenager like Sage, someone with plenty of birth-control options, found herself in this position. Elle says the… Read More »
LILA & EVE Rewrites Revenge
As a portrait of perfect grief, LILA & EVE is unmatched. Blessed with a performance by Viola Davis as Lila, this is one of the best ever filmed. She is fierce, edgy, and heartbreaking as a single mother in a harrowing study of the limits of sanity in the face of unutterable tragedy. Unlike the… Read More »