Month: February 2024
-
Criminal Record: a British police mystery series
Criminal Record has lots of male energy, nevertheless it stars Cush Jumbo as DS June Lenker. When a worrisome 999 call comes in June is put at odds with the powerful DCI Daniel Hegarty (Peter Capaldi) over an old murder case.
-
Revoir Paris review, in which Virginie Efira defines memory recovery
Revoir Paris from writer and director Alice Winocour, is about a woman who is traumatized in a mass shooting in a Paris bistro. She survives, one of the few who did, but blanked out the memory of what happened. She wants to remember and to know about the people she saw there.
-
The Holdovers review, heartwarming and humorous
The Holdovers has earned nominations for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Da’Vine Joy Randolph this year. It’s a heartwarming story set in a boys’ boarding school over the Christmas holidays. The boys who can’t go home for the holidays are kept at the school and referred to as “holdovers.”
-
The Abyss review, a nail biter based on truth
The Abyss is a nail biter of a disaster movie from Sweden, based in fact. The city of Kiruna, Sweden is a real city with a real iron mining operation that has been ongoing for hundreds of years. The Swedes really are moving the town, house by house, a couple of miles down the road…
-
This is Me . . . Now: Jennifer Lopez takes a selfie
In This is Me . . . Now, Jennifer Lopez tells her own story using the language of music, dance, lyrics, metaphor, imagery, and drama. She calls herself “The Artist” in this. As an artist, she uses the tools of her trade to show a personal and vulnerable picture of herself as lonely and searching…
-
The Color Purple musical review
I know The Color Purple is meant to liberate Black women, but I’ve always loved it. I’ve read the book by Alice Walker multiple times, I’ve seen the original movie multiple times. What I had not done was see the Broadway musical version of the story or learn the music from that show. This film…
-
One Fine Morning review: Léa Seydoux in a lovely role
One Fine Morning (Un beau matin) stars Léa Seydoux in a gentle and sweet character study. This French film was written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve. The work I’ve seen from this director in the past was introspective and seemingly uneventful. This is similar. It’s a personality study that moves through a few months in…
-
Vigil, season 2, forget submarines – it’s all about drones
Vigil, season 2, retains the name of the submarine from season 1, but everyone is above the water this season. Some time has passed between the two seasons. Long enough for Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) and Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) to be living happily as a family with Poppy Silva (Orla Russell) in their care.…
-
Oppenheimer: a personal reaction
Oppenheimer brought up of a lot of personal history for me. I was alive during World War II. I was alive when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. I remember the end of the war as a time of jubilation in my family home. There was a lot in the film that…
-
Upgraded review, a light and fun romcom
Upgraded follows the light and breezy romcom tradition. It stars Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux. He’s a rich Englishman. She’s a poverty stricken assistant in an American art auction house. She gets upgraded to first class on a plane to London and sits next to the Englishman in question. By the end of the flight,…