“Transformers One” is my favorite animated film of 2024 so far. I don’t want to give away much of the story. What I will say is that it’s the origin story of these Transformers characters, including Optimus Prime (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry). They were initially friends. How do we get […]
“My Penguin Friend” is inspired by a rather unique true story. It begins with a lovely opening credits sequence featuring a map, followed by a rather dark prologue involving a father, Brazil fisherman Joao, who loses his child dies at sea. A bit too intense for the family film crowd the rest of the movie […]
Academy Award winning director Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind”) follows-up his powerhouse, underrated 2022 drama “Thirteen Lives” with one of the best films of 2024 so far. “Jim Henson: Idea Man” is a dynamic documentary on the life and career of the Muppets master, available on Disney+. This is a kaleidoscope of a presentation… vivacious […]
1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and 2005’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” are two of my 100 favorite films of all-time. I consider both adaptations of the classic Roald Dahl story to be brilliant. Both Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp deliver powerful versions as the fascinating, multi-dimensional, dynamic chocolate-maker extraordinaire. When I learned […]
“The Hill” is a based-on-a-true story sports drama co-written by Angelo Pizzo, who wrote 1986’s “Hoosiers” and 1993’s “Rudy”. Not a bad resume for the genre. The A-list actor headlining “The Hill” is Dennis Quaid, who’s starred in more than a dozen sports films, including “The Rookie”, “The Express”, “Any Given Sunday” and “Blue Miracle”. […]
Netflix and A24 team-up for the compelling documentary, “The Deepest Breath”. The film takes a deep dive into the extreme—ly dangerous world of freediving, through the lives of two of the sport’s most iconic participants. Director Laura McGann begins by introducing us to multi-world record holder Alessia Zecchini and safety instructor/trainer Stephen Keenan using archival […]
The breathtaking, epic love story, “Weathering with You” was my favorite animated movie of 2019. Makoto Shinkai, the writer/director of that Annie nominee, as well as 2016’s acclaimed “Your Name”, returns with another triumph. “Suzume” is a spectacular anime adventure that makes you believe in the unbelievable. Bicycling to school one morning, the teen girl […]
“Mr. Malcolm’s List” is directed by Emma Holly Jones and written by Suzanne Allain, who based the screenplay on her 2009 novel (of the same name) about romance and class distinction in 19th Century London. I’m about to give this film a very positive review, something I genuinely didn’t think would be happening after watching […]
It was Saturday March 14th, 2020. The world had shut down the day before. I was looking for something to do at home, so I watched “Stargirl”, which had dropped on Disney+ the day before. The feature film adaptation of the popular 2000 novel by Jerry Spinelli starred “America’s Got Talent” winner Grace VanderWaal in […]
“Flora & Ulysses” is based on the Newbery award winning 2013 novel, “Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures” by award-winning author Kate DiCamillo. She is one of the most talented and respected children’s fiction writers of our time. And she’s not unfamiliar with her work being adapted to the screen, including both “Because of Winn-Dixie” […]