Oscar Nominees — Animated Short Film
I always love seeing all the shorts before the Oscars. And I always lament that we don't get to see one of them before a feature, as we should. Sure,…
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,…
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,…
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…
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…
Still Alice
The reason to see Still Alice, and you really should, is Julianne Moore. She just won an Academy Award for her beautiful and heartbreaking performance as Alice Howland, a successful…
A Most Violent Year
Writer/director J. C. Chandor knows how to keep an audience glued to their seats. With his first film, Margin Call, he had us wondering until the final scene whether a…
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Mainstream Chick’s Christmas Day cheat sheet
Apologies. I’ve been remiss in posting my reviews. So in the interest of time – and a quick read for those planning a Christmas holiday escape to the movies -…
Force Majeure
There is a lot of buzz around Force Majeure, a Swedish relationship drama. They LOVED it at Cannes, it is Sweden's Oscar entry, and the Foreign Press has just nominated…
Citizenfour
In January of 2013, filmmaker Laura Poitras began receiving emails from a mysterious person who only identified himself as "citizenfour" and who had information about US government surveillance on a…
Venus in Fur (La Vénus à la fourrure)
Theater lovers rejoice! And run to see this film. It is a fantastique adaptation of a play about a playwright/director and the mysterious woman who just may be the perfect…
Ida
Ida is one of those extremely beautiful but ultimately depressing films. It is the story of an 18-year-old Polish orphan who was brought up by nuns and is about to…