NERUDA: NOT YOUR AVERAGE BIOPIC
Hot on the heels of his first English-language film Jackie, Chilean director Pablo Larrain has another striking biographical drama opening in theaters. Neruda paints a vivid portrait of Chile’s Nobel prize winner, the illustrious but controversial poet Pablo Neruda. Larrain…
GIVE THE AUDIENCE WHAT IT WANTS: ROGUE ONE
Rogue One is comfort food for Star Wars fans. It offers an array of newly-minted characters played by an appealing, multicultural cast and follows a tried-and-true storytelling formula. If you’re not a Star Wars junkie you needn’t worry about…
NEW AND NOTABLE FILM BOOKS FOR DECEMBER
These are not reviews as I haven’t had the time to read the many books that arrive on my doorstep…but these titles all interest me and I am eager to spread the word of their publication. NOTHING…
SPECTACULAR MOVIE BOOKS
I recently wrote about a new book from Taschen publishers that has the heft of an actual coffee table. The Walt Disney Archives is not only an imposing and rewarding book but takes the prize for sheer heft this…
‘La La Land’ is a True Original
How could I not respond to a film that opens with the words “Presented in CINEMASCOPE” and ends with the legend “Made in Hollywood U.S.A.”? Though Damien Chazelle pays tribute to the musicals of yesteryear La La Land is not…
HARRY BENSON: SHOOT FIRST
Harry Benson: Shoot First is entertaining and anecdotal, filled with famous faces and equally famous photos. It would be tempting to call it superficial at first…but also deals with the role of the photographer, as Benson sees it. He…
BRINGING ‘JACKIE’ BACK TO LIFE
Jackie begins at a fever pitch and never lets up; this is emphasized and embellished by Mica Levi’s haunting and relentless music score. But what Noah Oppenheim’s dazzling screenplay and Pablo Lorrain’s direction manage to do more than anything…
