Category: Film Reviews

Film Review: ‘The Green Knight’: Yawn-Fest With Deep Spiritual Insights

2021 | R | 2h 10min “The Green Knight” Rotten Tomatoes score: The Critics: 90 percent—Fresh! The People: 52 percent—Rotten! “The Green Knight,” a film adaptation of the Arthurian poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” is one of those languid, art-house-type moody tone-poem movies that cause critics to wax poetic and audiences to hate it….


Presidents in Pictures: Three Classic Movies About United States Presidents

Why are three movies made seven decades ago worth watching? History. American History—a lesson in a system that honors laws that treat all equally. Although July 4 has passed, it’s always a good time to celebrate American history with inspiring classic films. Hollywood during its Golden Era made many movies about U.S. presidents, using their…


Rewind, Review, and Re-Rate: ‘The Horse Soldiers’: Director John Ford’s Entertaining Civil War Drama

Not Rated | 2h | Adventure, Romance, War | 1959 For as many Western films as celebrated director John Ford made, it’s interesting that he produced only one wholly dedicated to the Civil War. (He did touch on the Civil War in 1962’s “How the West Was Won.”) “The Horse Soldiers” (1959) was his only…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Heaven Can Wait’: Warren Beatty’s Sublime Fantasy Romance

PG | 1h 41min | Drama, Comedy, Mystery, Fantasy | 28 June 1978 (USA) After a decade of largely forgettable TV roles and low-performing features, Warren Beatty hit major critical and commercial pay dirt with “Bonnie and Clyde,” the first movie he both starred in and produced and that provided the launching pad for the remainder of his storied career. Rather…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Courage Under Fire’: Standing Guard Over Truth

1996 | R | 1h 56min If a movie shows a military funeral featuring the “missing-man formation”—that fighter-jet fly-by where one out of the four warplanes pulls vertical and disappears into the clouds—I’m a mess. If the movie ends with a scene in Arlington Cemetery, with its rows of white gravestones as far as the eye can see,…


Rewind, Review, and Re-rate: ‘Pink Cadillac’: An Early-Eastwood Vehicle You Should Avoid Taking a Ride In

1989 | PG-13 | 2h 2min Funny how our tastes change. When I saw Clint Eastwood’s “Pink Cadillac” back in 1989 when it came out, I thought it was the bee’s knees (huge Clint fan here). I thought it was exceptionally hilarious. My main memory was of Clint in a gold lame suit and pencil moustache, with…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘The Last Hurrah’: A Multifaceted Character Study of a Politician From a Bygone Era

Not Rated | 2h 1min | Drama, Comedy | 1958 Celebrated American director John Ford is probably best remembered for his excellent Westerns, such as “Stagecoach” (1939) and “Rio Grande” (1950). As a consequence, many of the non-Western films either have been underrated or flew under the cinematic radar. For one such film, “The Last…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘The Death of Stalin’: Get Inspired About America

2017 | R |1h 47min Writer-director Armando Iannucci, who created HBO’s political satire “Veep,” has with “The Death of Stalin” created a period satire that shines a light on the scrambling, flailing, and power grabs of the political cockroaches and cronies in Joseph Stalin’s inner circle, immediately following his death. It feels pretty timely in light…


Film Review: ‘Roadrunner: A Film about Anthony Bourdain’: Bio-documentary of a Media Pioneer

R | 1h 58min | Documentary, Biography | 16 July 2021 (USA) Opening with the 1972 in-your-face, retro-punk anthem of the same name by Jonathan Richman, “Roadrunner” moves through its nearly two-hour running time with the same level of fervor and immediacy. If you’re a regular consumer of non-fictional television programming, it’s likely you’re already aware of the plethora of cooking…


Film Review: ‘Black Widow’: Finally a Real Summer Blockbuster for 2021

2021 | PG-13 | 2h 13min  I recently ranted about the ridiculous amounts of CGI used in “F9: The Fast Saga,” which has basically ruined the classic summer blockbuster and is turning American audiences’ minds into mush. “Black Widow,” however, is a much better movie; it can be considered a real summer blockbuster. Ironically, it’s conceivably got…