I am a retired father of two living with my wife in Vancouver, B.C. who has had a lifelong interest in the arts.
Recipient of a Golden Globes nomination for Best Actress in a musical or comedy, Lily Tomlin (“Grace and Frankie” TV series) may be a bit over-the-top as the tough, outspoken, and cantankerous 70-something Elle in Paul Weitz’ (“Little Fockers”) Grandma, but she is also very funny and very real. If you’ve heard of tough love…
“I feel the air flowing for life’s in full swing, so tell me why I cannot breathe” — Kate Rusby, Falling Since the dawn of human history, men’s ability to suppress the rights of women has been a measure of their power. Despite our social advances, even today women are often put into categories such…
“A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” — Jane Austen, “Pride and Prejudice,” Chapter VI Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale, “Total Recall”), the main protagonist of Whit Stillman’s (“Damsels in Distress”) period comedy Love & Friendship is determined to get what she wants…
Named after an old chain gang work song about the light of a passing train being a symbol of redemption, Jeff Nichols’ (“Mud”) Midnight Special is an enigmatic science-fiction thriller about a boy with special powers and his parents whose bridge of love between them knows no worldly boundaries. Set in the American South, the…
If you are at all interested in six weeks of paid vacation, an extra month’s salary and a two-hour lunch break, you just might have to go to Italy to find it. Filmmaker Michael Moore (“Capitalism: A Love Story,” “Sicko”), a welcome voice for sanity, returns to the big screen in his first film in…
First-time director Paul Dalio’s Touched with Fire, originally titled “Mania Days,” is an honest attempt to provide insight into the illness commonly known as bipolar disorder. The film depicts how two young poets are compelled to battle parents, doctors, and the cultural consensus to maintain their relationship which is considered dangerous by the community because…
Filmed in stop-motion animation, Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman’s (“Synecdoche, New York”) Anomalisa is a look at loneliness and its psychological effects. Filled with existential despair, it is also funny, surreal, and thought-provoking, a film that can touch you in ways you never thought possible. Nominated for Best Animated film at the 2016 Oscars and…
