AVENGERS: ENDGAME
If there were ever a movie designed to please its target audience, Avengers: Endgame is an emblematic example. It assumes that its viewers are thoroughly familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and all of its characters, so when one…
BE NATURAL: A WOMAN REWRITES FILM HISTORY
Be Natural is a revelatory film about pioneering female filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché. Writer-director Pamela B. Green has done a superior job of telling her story in this lively account of a neglected woman. The briskly-paced documentary not only sets film…
THIS YEAR’S TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL—FROM MY POINT OF VIEW
It’s hard to believe that this is the tenth year that Turner Classic Movies has staged a film festival in the heart of Hollywood. I’ve been lucky enough to participate from the beginning, although my assignments are so varied…
PETERLOO: HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Mike Leigh is one of my favorite filmmakers, in part because you never know what to expect from him. He’s given us slices of life (Life is Sweet, Secrets & Lies), character studies (Another Year, Happy-go-Lucky), a lavish period…
SHAZAM! NEVER TAKES OFF
Shazam! wants to be slick and smartassy except when it suddenly chooses to be warm and sincere—like a TV commercial for some medication or life insurance. You can’t have it both ways but this film repeatedly tries to do so.…
MALTINFEST LINE UP AND TICKETS
MALTINFEST 2019 at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre In association with The American Cinematheque May 10-12, 2019 SING STREET (2016) is a musical charmer from John Carney, the Irish filmmaker who made ONCE. It’s the story of a young…
