INSPIRED - What constitutes the perfect friendship? The Intouchables goes a long way toward answering that loaded question with a story of profound wisdom and restrained grace. Philippe suffered a paragliding accident and is now confined to a wheelchair, paralyzed from “neck to toe.” He hires Driss, an immigrant slacker from Senegal, as his personal valet. Philippe … Continue reading »
Latest Entries
42 absolutely the right medicine
INSPIRED - The Jackie Robinson story is a big one. It’s a baseball story and a human condition story. It’s a monumental race relations story. It’s both a true story and one of mythological magnitude. It’s an American story. It’s a universal story. It’s also a love story. Tall task for a film to accomplish all of … Continue reading »
Cruise still an effective lead in Oblivion
YEP YEP - It’s The Matrix meets Planet of the Apes meets War of the Worlds; with a huge debt owed to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars; and even, surprisingly, the small Sam Rockwell film, Moon. So, if you liked all of those films you will love the new Tom Cruise sci-fi vehicle Oblivion. We learn through opening narration that the year is 2077; and you … Continue reading »
Siskel and Ebert
Once upon a time I raced home on Sunday evenings to turn on the television and watch a weekly program called Sneak Previews. Sneak Previews was a 30-minute conversation between two Chicago film critics, the late Gene Siskel and the late Roger Ebert. One was skinny. One was not. One was balding. One had hair. One wore … Continue reading »
6 Masters who dive deep
What separates the good film directors from the master filmmakers? I say it’s the themes they explore and the depths at which they are willing to plunge. Here are six filmmakers who have demonstrated a willingness to tackle universal human conflicts. Filmmakers who work with confidence that they can stay several steps ahead of their … Continue reading »
Searching for Sugar Man so sweet
INSPIRED - Yet again reminded that truth is often stranger than fiction. Swedish filmmaker Malik Bandjelloul, on assignment from SVT (Swedish Television), went to Cape Town, South Africa in hopes of stumbling upon a story begging to be told. Boy, did he hit pay dirt. Bandjelloul waltzed in to a vintage vinyl shop in Cape Town … Continue reading »
Here Comes the Boom offers up teachable moments
YEP - It wasn’t up for any Oscars, and it owes a lot to the Rocky boxing movie formula, but Here Comes the Boom still scores big points for all the right reasons. With the state of our public schools perpetually in the news and on the chopping block, it came as a nice surprise to sit down to a film … Continue reading »
