Around their fourteenth year, most students are required to read Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Many will agree that the Victorian language can present a bit of a stumbling block. Kids reading the book will likely appreciate the ‘plain’ language of…
One of the bestselling novels in history, Robert James Waller’s 1992 novel, The Bridges of Madison County, has sold over 50 million copies. Most critics hated it, but the public ate it up. I remember seeing several women reading the…
Note: Parts of this piece appeared in a review for an earlier home video release of the film. Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Trilogy made its Blu-ray debut back in 2008. The picture, audio, and extras were impressive. A lot…
Independently produced by Stanley Kramer (High Noon, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner), Home of the Brave was based on the successful Broadway play by Arthur Laurents. Kramer, famous for making “message” movies throughout his career, made one significant change. In…
Director Emile Ardolino spent the better part of two decades working in television. Most notably at PBS, where his profiles of dancers and choreographers for their Dance in America and Live from Lincoln Center series garnered him a total of…
The story behind the Veronica Mars movie is one of remarkable fan loyalty The television series’ creator Rob Thomas, and star Kristen Bell launched a fundraising campaign to produce the film through Kickstarter, and attained their goal of $2 million…
In a remote area of South America, an oil rig has been blown up by political dissidents, resulting in a fire that burns fiercely. Several workers lose their lives, and the disaster is costing the American owners a great deal…
Director Lucio Marcaccini’s only film, 1975’s Hallucination Strip stars Bud Cort, but it’s not exactly Harold and Maude. Cort plays university student Massimo Monaldi. A politically minded young man, he attends various protests and often finds himself in trouble. He’s…
With Thank You for Smoking, Juno, and Up in the Air, director Jason Reitman has proven himself adept at making clever films that tackle serious issues with a sharp sense of humor. If his last film, Young Adult, suggested Reitman…
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the second film in Peter Jackson’s prequel to The Lord of the Rings, is beginning to show the strain of the director’s determination to stretch the adventure into three books. While still enjoyable, Smaug…