Before it premiered, there were hopes that Francis Lee’s new film would put Kate Winslet in the race for next year’s best actress Oscar. Hopes were dashed though after the reviews from this year’s virtual Toronto Film Festival, labeling it as dry, mute, and bleak. The fan fiction element of the story tries to balance facts […]
The first great film of 2020 creeps up on you gradually in the most unexpected way. “Summerland” is the feature film debut of Jessica Swale, who also wrote the original screenplay. She takes us back to the WWII era, just when you think every possible angle has already been captured on film, “Summerland” finds uncharted
In 2011 Brother and sister duo Jesse and Evgenia Peretz made a film called Our Idiot Brother and it was very bad. They return with yet another quirky comedy, but this time, the script and direction are genuinely entertaining. Evgenia’s script examines the different aspects, responsibilities, and regrets of middle-age dating. She also explores idol obsession and
No this isn’t a romance movie set in Alaska during the summer months where the sun never sets, that would be far too interesting and unique. Midnight Sun borrows the concept of another teen drama Everything, Everything, about a young girl with a rare disease that forces her to always stay inside. That combined with
Love, Simon has been called a Disney-fied version of Call Me By Your Name. That’s both unfair (this is 20th Century Fox, and they have done a great marketing job) and expected. It’s from the team that made millions with The Fault in Our Stars, and a savvy director, televisions Greg Berlanti (The Flash, Arrow),
Topping last years, A Bigger Splash, Italian director Luca Guadagnino has created nothing short of a masterpiece in adapting André Aciman’s novel of the same name. In a screenplay by James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name is one of the most honest coming of age stories I’ve ever witnessed. The entire film is anchored
Director Roger Michell’s films can be quite good or forgettable depending on what he is working with. His latest was very anticipated on my part, the adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s novel. Maurier is the nearly forgotten author behind two of Hitchcock’s best adaptations The Birds and Rebecca. The first trailer for My Cousin Rachel
Director Amma Asante continues to deliver important true stories about diverse relationships throughout history. Belle (2011) was a beautiful underappreciated film that functioned as a discovery picture for actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Miss Sloane). Asante reunites with Belle co-star Davenport, playing a larger part in this film. It’s the consistently impressive presence of David Oyelowo (Selma)
Another film with good intentions; dark history that deserves to be on the big screen, weakened by a terrible script and amateur direction. C-rate television director George Mendeluk and screenwriter Richard Bachynsky Hoover use the “Titanic Movie” model to convey a love story set inside the horrific events of Ukraine’s man-made famine that killed around