When a film relies so heavily on tropes from other iconic comedies it becomes actually quite difficult to not begin mentally comparing it to many predecessors of its kind (the list is rather extensive). Such is the case with Literally Right Before Aaron. Written and directed by Ryan Eggold, it is a comedy that does…
Guatemalan Indigenous Leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú Tum said, “We are not myths of the past, ruins in the jungle, or zoos. We are people and we want to be respected.” Unfortunately, however, Indigenous people have been the subject of racism and discrimination throughout history. Massacres, forced-march relocations, the “Indian wars,” death…
Yes, the movie Columbus does take place in Columbus, Indiana, the childhood home of current US Vice-President, Mike Pence, but there’s no politics here since first time director/writer Kogonada delves into that part of Columbus with the remarkable artistic distinction of being the hub of modern architecture in the US. Banks, post offices, churches, and…
“And we’re lost out here in the stars. Little stars, big stars, blowing through the night” — Kurt Weill Though the consensus of mainstream science is that ghosts do not exist, people’s shared experiences throughout history tell us that disembodied spirits do wander the earth, unfortunate souls who are unable to let go of their…
The chasm between what parents want for their children and what kids want for themselves is rarely addressed in films, especially in romantic comedies where the focus is primarily on young couples falling in and out of love and then back in again. Of course, we know that parents are usually involved, especially immigrant families…
Indeed director Stella Meghie’s (“Jean of the Joneses”) teary-eyed tale of pain and young love in the debilitating drama Everything, Everything may be a well-meaning, symbolic serving of the “fragile-heart-yet-winning-spirit” in the eyes of the targeted impressionable teenyboppers harboring such oscillating emotions. However, for discerning others this manufactured, saccharine-coated, junior-sized Lifetime Movie made for the…
My Cousin Rachel is a smart and evocative exercise in wrongfooting. Right from the beginning — or possibly the end — Roger Michell’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel expresses doubt and ambiguity, as narrator/protagonist Philip (Sam Claflin, “Me Before You”) asks “Was she? Wasn’t she?” By the end of the film, any answered questions…
