AFI DOCS (Days 3 & 4)
So many films, so little time. Running back and forth from DC to Silver Spring, it was impossible to see all the films that were available. Anyone who can, should…
AFI DOCS 2015 (Days 1 & 2)
Another year, another great set of documentaries! Last year it seemed the festival had more of a theme. This time around, I saw a lot of different kinds of stories.…
The Salt of the Earth
I've been a fan of Sebastião Salgado's work for decades, probably beginning with his photographs of the gold miners of Brazil's Serra Pelada in the mid-80s. Beyond being beautiful images,…
Far from the Madding Crowd
What a simply horrid problem Bathsheba Everdene (Katniss's great-great grandmother?) has to contend with! She's young and pretty and has inherited a big old house in the British countryside with…
Clouds of Sils Maria
The first I heard of Clouds of Sils Maria was the news that Kristen Stewart won the French version of the Oscar (the Cesar) for her supporting role in it,…
Mad Max: Fury Road
What a ride! From the beginning to the end, there is hardly a static scene in this film. It begins as Max (Tom Hardy) is contemplating the vast scorched earth…
Welcome to Me
What happens when a mentally ill woman who is obsessed with Oprah wins the lottery? She buys her way onto television and her very own talk show, of course. In…
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Adapted from the best-selling novel by Jonas Jonasson, which I thoroughly enjoyed, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared is a fun little Swedish flick about an…
Ex Machina
In his directorial debut Alex Garland, the writer of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, has served up an intriguing minimalist sci-fi thriller that is more about what isn't onscreen than…
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2015
Film festivals are a lot of fun, but kind of exhausting, too. I headed to Durham, NC last weekend for the Full Frame Festival, one of the premier documentary festivals…
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
Back in the 90s I liked Nirvana's music, though I wasn't what I would call a big fan. But when lead singer/songwriter Kurt Cobain killed himself, I was shocked and…
Mr. Turner
When I think of Mike Leigh, I think of great female characters -- Vera Drake, Secrets and Lies, Happy Go Lucky. And with Mr. Turner he proves that he is…
Maps to the Stars
David Cronenberg has always brought us characters and situations that are unsettling. His early films were smart horror flicks like The Fly and Dead Ringers, and I thought he'd moved…
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel picks up slightly after the original ended, and if you did not see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel you could be a bit confused…
Timbuktu
Timbuktu was a very deserving 2015 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign film. The movie was inspired by the real life events of 2012-13 when religious fundamentalists, took over the…