The third Spider-Man iteration in the last fifteen years begins in earnest with young Tom Holland assuming the role of the webbed crime-fighter. His first stand-alone adventure is aided and abetted by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who hovers like a […]
Continue reading »Month: August 2017
Menashe (2017) ☆ ☆
I had a very difficult time with Menashe. It delves into an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn with a story in which custom and tradition are set against modern convention. Menashe (Menashe Lustig), a widower, is in no hurry to remarry, […]
Continue reading »The Midwife (2017) ☆ ☆ ☆
While too many American movies are high-concept dramas which posit extraordinary (or impossible) things happening to people, the French make movies about life, embracing all the crazy, contradictory, messy aspects of living, trying to stay sane, getting along with other […]
Continue reading »The Dark Tower (2017) ☆ ☆ 1/2
I’ve never read any of Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series, but my understanding is that this film serves as an introduction to what could become a series of alternate-world history-adventures. Whether or not it ever begets any progeny, this film […]
Continue reading »Kidnap (2017) ☆ ☆ 1/2
Women are stepping up to action roles this summer, from Gal Gadot and Charlize Theron to Kate Mara and Mandy Moore. Now it’s Halle Berry’s turn, playing a mother whose young son is kidnapped in Kidnap. Its blunt, prosaic title is […]
Continue reading »War of the Planet of the Apes (2017) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
The first cycle of five Planet of the Apes films in the 1960s and ’70s was pretty good; the first one was an instant classic and the others told a provocative, fascinating alternate future history. Now a trilogy of films resetting […]
Continue reading »The Big Sick (2017) ☆ ☆ ☆
Stand-up comedians have it tough. Especially when the stand-up comedian is from Pakistan and has parents who are determined that he remain faithful to his heritage above all else. This comedy-drama’s most poignant moment occurs when Kumail Nanjiani (playing himself) […]
Continue reading »The Little Hours (2017) ☆ ☆
What I took for a wacky anti-religious comedy actually has its roots in classical literature: The Little Hours (“Hours” is supposed to be pronounced as “Whores,” for reasons which should become clear) is based upon the first story of the third […]
Continue reading »