What’s the square root of a relationship? I’m no math master, but the enjoyable Sam Cooke soothingly answers this in a way with his hit song “Wonderful World” with the lyric: “. . . But I do know one and one is two.” And without two, it’s just you. Sure, singleness has its self-sufficient and…
One cannot overlook the Oscar overload of talent tapped to bring in the financial rewards for the tepid on-air monetary hostage drama Money Monster. Acting leads in George Clooney (Academy Award winner for “Syrianna”) and Julia Roberts (Academy Award winner for “Erin Brockovich”) and director Jodie Foster (Academy Award winner for “The Accused” and “The Silence…
The year is 1990. The place is a rural Minnesota town and a man there reports to the police station because his daughter has accused him of raping her. John Gray (David Dencik, “The Homesman”) is polite, cooperative, and remorseful, yet he claims to have no memory of the crime. He insists his daughter is…
“Sometimes, rules are meant to be, well not necessarily broken, but certainly bent — and definitely reinterpreted; don’t you think?,” says Baloo to a bee-stung Mowgli as the man-cub angrily makes his way to the man-village where, as his sage mentor Bagheera has indicated, he must go back to if he wants to avoid a…
For those who believe sequels are and integral part of the filmmaking process, I present the following recent exhibits: “The Hangover Part II,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Ted 2.” Yes, I realize there are also other examples where the sequel bested the original, such as “The Godfather Part II,” “Superman…
Evidently filmmaker Garry Marshall cannot seem to get away from his tediously formulaic playbook of themed movie-making and certainly the tepid and toothless Mother’s Day reinforces this cinematic sentiment. Marshall is determined to exploit these cornball conveyor belt holiday-based movies that shamelessly boast an all-star cast, shallow sentimentality, heavy-handed and forced nuttiness and the gimmickry of…
The lyrical lad of film-making, in the form of Irish writer-director John Carney (who gave us the wonderfully musical drama in 2007’s “Once”), is at it again as he brings the continued inspiration of music and motivation in the engagingly festive coming-of-age musical melodrama Sing Street. Carney, the former member of the Irish rock group…
