The author name of Nicholas Sparks lives up to its shining name. Sparks indeed fly between his characters featured in his penned romantic novels. But somehow, after making us fall in love with the cha
Hollywood loves to titillate us with sexy films that also pose intriguing questions about life. And the characters, while trying to answer such questions, are willing to undergo mysterious new things
Hollywood loves its teen flicks. But not all teen flicks are generic in nature. One interesting kind is the so-called coming of age film, where a young adolescent transforms slowly or abruptly out of
At the heart of a good science fiction film is the very intriguing science and technology presented in the story. The sci-fi stuff could leave us all wondering about our own future, as we think of wha
They might as well call Gone Girl as “gone bonkers” since this is what us viewers would feel after watching the movie. Imagine a story starting nicely, presenting a seemingly happy man and woman as a
Hollywood loves the universality of romantic films. But there’s another kind of romantic angle that films from La-la Land likes a lot: the tragic love story wherein one character dies of illness. The
Andrew Neyman has a problem. Played by Miles Teller in the Oscar-winning film “Whiplash,” he’s an ambitious musician, a drummer in one of the elite music schools in the country. When the school’s top
Jean-Luc Godard's “Every Man For Himself” (1980) opens with an elegant pan across a cloudy blue sky accompanied by a melodic orchestral arrangement, sound and image in perfect harmony. Anyone familiar
Jean Renoir's “A Day In The Country” (“Partie de campagne”, 1936) has its legion of devotees, finishing in the top 100 in the most recent “Sight & Sound” critics poll. While it is undeniably beautiful
An old man prays for death so that he will no longer be a burden to his granddaughter. A swordsman dressed in black appears behind him and grants his request with a single brutal stroke. An avenging
As I wrote in my review of “The Wonder Years: Complete Series,” this coming-of-age TV comedy-drama gets it right. Lots of thin
In 2007, a British audiologist named S.J. Watson wrote a psychological thriller about a woman with amnesia who, like the protagonist in “50 First Dates,” could not build short term memories because th
I fully stand by my review of season one of “Banshee” and season two stays right on course with all the violence and sex that Cinemax can throw at you. It is apparent some lessons were learned from th
It had to happen. With so many gritty, sex-filled dramas on cable TV and with prostitutes taking center stage in such series as “Deadwood,” you knew that eventually there’d be a melodrama set entirel
I caught “My Winnipeg” (2007) at its debut screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. After the screening, the first question to director Guy Maddin was from a man who introduced himself as
The woman is a joyful eccentric, full of fanciful stories and extravagant behavior. The man is her opposite, a surly homebody with a curmudgeon’s disdain for the outside world. Still grieving the loss
“The Judge” is a relatively simple film that wants you to think that it is more complicated. To do this, it drops in multiple subplots that have all reared their ugly heads in prior similar titles
The period drama juggernaut "Downton Abbey" rolls on in Season 5, and creator Julian Fellowes has programmed in some minor course corrections addressing the several disappointments of Season 4. Don’t
“Pom Poko” is one of three new-to-Blu Studio Ghibli titles from Disney, along with “Porco Rosso” and “Tales from Earthsea,” that are scheduled for February 3 release. Based on an idea by Hayao Miy
“By The Gun” is about guns, duh. It’s also about organized crime, honor, family, more guns, and angry men shouting at each other in between long, terse silences. Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian in the “Na
I knew absolutely nothing about “Men, Women & Children” when it showed up. And after watching it, I know even less. Why? Because it’s bad. Very bad. And it brings down a decent cast and director w