Category: Film Reviews

Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘The Rookie’ Shows It’s Never Too Late to Realize Your Dreams

G | 2h 7min | Drama, Family, Sport | 29 March 2002 (USA) Movies that tell the tales of underdogs who, against all odds, manage to make incredible comebacks and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat can be some of the most inspiring films. But when you infuse that winning formula with the “never…


Film Review: ‘Boss Level’: A “No Pain, no Gain” Time-Looper Movie

TV-MA | 1h 34min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi | 5 March 2021 (USA) Remember when the 1960’s zombies use to stagger around, real slow-like? 2000’s “28 Days” gave us 100-yard-dash zombies, and that was very scary. When an idea makes money in Hollywood, every last permutation and combination of that new genre gets mined for…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Wild’: Witherspoon’s Walkabout Warrants Watching

Reese Witherspoon’s already escaped her ditzy “Legally Blonde” period with “Walk the Line” but “Wild” moves her solidly into serious leading-lady territory.


Film Review: ‘Sound of Metal’: Don’t Take Your Soundscape for Granted

R | 2h | Drama, Music | 4 December 2020 (USA) I love the sound of metal. That is, the unmuffled rumble of V-8 and V-twin engines of American muscle cars and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, respectively. I own a bike of significant loudness. I also used to drum in a rock band. I sometimes worry about…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘The Work’: Electrifying Documentary About Deploying Men’s Work Healing in a Maximum Security Prison

Not Rated | 1h 29min | Documentary | 8 September 2017 (UK) Of all the film critics on Rotten Tomatoes writing about the documentary “The Work,” I’m the only one who has actually done the type of work (and facilitated the work) on display in this riveting documentary about man-healing, set in a maximum security…


Rewind, Review, Re-Rate: ‘Seven Pounds’: Tear-Hijacker Doesn’t Ring True

Looking back on Will Smith’s body of work, it’s clear that he is a more-than-capable actor in both action-oriented (“I am Legend,” “Hancock”) and dramatic roles, and of course, comedic ones (“Hitch,” “Focus”). But in Italian director Gabriele Muccino “Seven Pounds,” Smith is cast against type as a much more tragic character than we’re used…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’: An Uplifting Tale About Racial Injustice

Directed by Robert Mulligan (“Summer of ’42,” 1971; “The Other,” 1972), “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a 1962 film based on a 1960 book of the same name, written by award-winning American author Harper Lee.  Elements in the book and film parallel aspects of Lee’s younger years, although we now know that the book is…


5 Westerns That Capture the Essence of the American Wild West

Robert Redford, like Clint Eastwood, just looks supremely rugged and suited to portraying characters of the American west. What the hat-and-poncho, stubble-bearded Eastwood is to the high plains desert, Redford is to the mega-bearded, fur-capped, deep-snow, hunter-trappers of the Colorado Rockies.


Winning Her Heart: Some Lessons in Love From ‘Groundhog Day’

It’s Groundhog Day, and weatherman and extreme narcissist Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the annual appearance of Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who annually predicts when spring will arrive. Despite the large and happy crowd, Phil has nothing but contempt for the town, its people, and its festival. To him…


‘Little Nellie Kelly’: A Great Day for the Irish

St. Patrick’s Day, and the whole month of March by extension, is dedicated to celebrating all things Irish. However, many complain that American celebrations of “St. Paddy’s” Day are primarily cheap commercialism, ignoring Ireland’s traditional, genuine culture. Even “Plastic Paddy” celebrations, though, are few in 2021. After claiming St. Patrick’s Day as its first canceled…