From their Oscar-winning documentary “Free Solo,” directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi dive into the narrative feature realm. Diana Nyad’s incredible story is an appropriate transition for the documentarians. It’s a “not humanly possible” story that painstakingly and triumphantly plays out throughout the film. Having legacy actors like Oscar-nominated Annette Bening in the lead […]
Another film that came and went from at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival that is finding its way to a wider audience thanks to the pandemic is “Hope Gap”. Based on writer/director William Nicholson’s own experience (and adapted from his play), watching his parents go through a divorce late in life. “Hope Gap” is
If you have ever wondered what would happen if someone combined the investigative journalism seen in best picture winner “Spotlight,” with the controversial story behind “Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Report” will satisfy that curiosity. Written and directed by Scott Z. Burns (“Contagion,” “The Bourne Ultimatum”), with a producing credit from frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh, this
Director of 27 Dresses Michael Mayer doesn’t seem to have much of a clue how to adapt Anton Chekhov’s play. He’s in good company, as other versions have also disappointed. Despite the lack of inspired direction, the actors rise to the occasion of melodrama, especially Oscar nominee Bening (Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool). The
In her latest effort to finally win that coveted Oscar, Annette Bening, four-time Academy Award nominee, gives both a familiar performance, but one of her most subdued. From the life and experience of writer/director Mike Mills, 20th Century Women explores eccentricities within family as he did with his Oscar winning film Beginners (2010). This script
It’s been 16 years since Warren Beatty starred in a film, since 1998’s Bulworth that he was behind the camera. Rules Don’t Apply is Warren Beatty for a new generation, and it’s a disappointing reintroduction. This throwback to classic Hollywood has a lot of problems in front and behind the camera, but most of its