“Revenge” Adds New Twists to an Oft-Told Tale
Revenge sagas about a woman turning the tables on her attackers are nothing new to the cinema. Filmmakers from Francois Truffaut (“The Bride Wore Black”) to Quentin Tarantino (“Kill Bill, Volumes 1 and 2”) have made indelible impressions with such tales. The sub-genre of ‘rape and revenge films,’ while often more exploitative, has earned its […]
Margot Robbie’s Femme Fatale Dominates the Stylish Noir of “Terminal”
In celebrity interviews on television, Margot Robbie comes off like “the girl next door.” On screen, however, her persona is more like the girl who will end up putting you in jail or worse. Robbie purred and slithered all over Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street.” She stole “Suicide Squad” with a Harley […]
“Let the Sunshine In” is French Romantic Comedy at its Darkest
Only the French could call such a bleak, black comedy as “Let the Sunshine In” a rom-com. Through the American lens, it more closely resembles a tragedy, or at least a mournful character study. The story of a middle-aged painter named Isabelle (Juliette Binoche) in search of love, or at least intimacy, has very few […]
“Ghost Stories” is an Ambitious Tale of That Which Haunts
Are ghosts real? That question seems to be the central premise of the new movie “GHOST STORIES” as it starts. Written and directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, and available in the US on VOD, it tees up its premise with a character named Professor Phillip Goodman (Nyman, yet again) who does not believe […]
Pacino Renders a Devastating Portrait of “Paterno” for HBO
Despite the name “Paterno” on the new HBO TV-movie, it’s not a biopic focusing on the 45-year career of Joe Paterno, head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions. Rather, it deals with the 11 days after his record-setting 409th career victory, when his part in the cover-up of a child sex scandal brought an […]
