Tag: Film Reviews

Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Sergeant York’: A Rousing Biopic About a Real American Hero

Not Rated| 2h 14min | Biography, Drama, History | 27 September 1941 (USA) There are many heroes who initially don’t seem destined for greatness. This certainly is the case with Alvin York, a real-life American hero who went above and beyond the call of duty during World War I. York’s heroics are retold in director…


Film Review: ‘Nomadland’: Destitute Elders in Vans in America’s Badlands

R | 1h 48min | Drama | 19 February 2021 (USA) Here’s an interesting dilemma: “Nomadland” is a well-made movie with the feel of a documentary, since it uses many of the actual nomadic van-dwellers written about in award-winning gonzo journalist Jessica Bruder’s book of the same name. It’s got most critics out of their…


Rewind, Review, and Re-Rate: ‘Black Swan’: Making a Case for Bringing Back Sacredness to Art

Director Darren Aronofsky resurrected Mickey Rourke’s career with “The Wrestler,” and worked a similar boon of blessings for Natalie Portman in “Black Swan.”


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘October Sky’: Don’t Give Up on Your Lofty Dreams Says Heartwarming Biopic

PG | 1h 48min | Biography, Drama, Family | 19 February 1999 (USA) I was hesitant to watch what I’d assumed was going to be yet another feel-good film that would prove smarmy and inauthentic. Luckily, director Joe Johnston’s “October Sky” was the perfect antidote for my cinematic pessimism. Unlike many of the genre’s films,…


Film Review: “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things”: A Perfect Valentine’s Day Thing

PG-13 | 1h 38min | Fantasy | 12 February 2021 (USA) America loves its time-loop movies: “Groundhog Day,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Palm Springs,” to name a few, and even “Back to the Future” has time-loop elements. Arriving in time for St. Valentine’s Day, “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” adds a quirky, fun, teen comedy-romance entry…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Breaking Away’: As Stirring as It Is Whimsical

PG | 1h 41min | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 20 July 1979 (USA) Films about underdogs that are sports-oriented, particularly ones that relate to the American Dream, can be tricky to pull off. Some, such as 1976’s “Rocky” and 1981’s “Chariots of Fire,” can go on to become classics—and deservedly so. Many others, however, can…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ’13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi’: 6 Versus 600

“Benghazi’s” based on a true story about the 6 hired-gun, ex-spec op, private security operators (made of ex-SEALS, Marines, and Rangers) who guarded a clandestine CIA headquarters situated near the Benghazi embassy. Vastly outnumbered by Libyan militiamen, they tried to save U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens from attacks on Sept. 11, 2012.


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton’: The Country That Prays Together…

PG | 1h 11min | Documentary | 9 October 2020 (USA) You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase “The family that prays together, stays together.” The documentary “Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton” tells of the Irish priest who made that phrase famous, and why it was his life’s mission to do so. In Peyton’s own words: “I’m…


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’: The Power of Faith

A wealthy sheik falls in love with cold-water fly-fishing on his Scottish estate and decides to construct a fly-fishing river in his homeland — the middle of the Yemen Desert.


Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Eddie the Eagle’: Living Your (Olympic) Dream

PG-13 | 1h 46min | Biography, Comedy, Drama | 26 February 2016 (USA) Olympic ski jumping. That insane, skis-in-a-“V” flying business. Unless you hail from Scandinavia, you see one jump, you’ve seen ’em all. Granted, it’s far more interesting than the even odder, ice-scrubbing-with-brooms business of Olympic curling. But we can probably all agree that…