For anyone who grew up loving film, Steve James’ Life Itself is impossible to criticize objectively. Roger Ebert is someone I’ve admired and looked up to for most of my life, and the film is poignant, funny, and heartbreaking. In…
Not simply a cartoon about bunnies, Watership Down is not a film for children. An adaption of Richard Adams’ massive, complex novel, director Martin Rosen has fused concrete scripting, a wonderful original score, and unforgettable characters with excellent voice casting…
Part character study, part indictment of the modern news media, Nightcrawler provides Jake Gyllenhaal with the best role of his career thus far. He stars as Louis Bloom, an alienated, but driven man struggling to find work. As the film…
Bandit Queen, based on the true story of controversial female warrior Phoolan Devi, is encapsulated by a quote shown on-screen at the start of the film: “Animals, drums, illiterates, low castes and women are worthy of being beaten.” Devi (Sunita…
Few will deny Richard Pryor’s place as one of stand up comedy’s true geniuses. As with many comedians who emerged both before and after him, Pryor was plagued by demons; demons that provided the source of some of his best…
Written and directed by 12 Years a Slave scribe John Ridley, Jimi: All is by My Side is unsatisfying in every way. As a lifelong Jimi Hendrix fan, initially, I was thrilled when it was announced that a film about…
Produced by star Gregory Peck, and based on the book by U.S. military historian Brigadier General S. L. A. Marshall, Pork Chop Hill was the first Hollywood film to openly question those in charge of the American armed forces. April,…
The summer after graduating from high school four friends in Bloomington, Indiana—Dave (Dennis Christopher), Mike (Dennis Quaid), Moocher (Jackie Earle Haley), and Cyril (Daniel Stern) are trying to find some direction in their lives. An accomplished cyclist, Dave dreams of…
The second Woody Allen film in which he didn’t appear, The Purple Rose of Cairo is similar to Radio Days in that it’s a tribute to the entertainment of his childhood. While Radio Days pays tribute to the radio stars…
After experiencing a career decline in the early 1950’s, Frank Sinatra began a career rebirth with the eve-of-Pearl Harbor drama From Here to Eternity, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. By the end of the…