The Hill
I'm generally a sucker for a good sports drama based on an "incredible true story" (as the poster says). But there's something about The Hill that just falls flat, despite…
Golda
1973, Israel is in a fight for its very existence. At the helm is a very tough little Wisconsin-raised woman named Golda Meir who will win the wars being waged…
Dreamin’ Wild
Dreamin' Wild is a soulful, slow-burn indie based on a true story. If you're part of the cult fan base that sparked the resurrection of a long-lost album by singer-songwriter…
Oppenheimer
In July of 1945, the first test of the Atomic Bomb was conducted under a cloud of secrecy in New Mexico; a month later, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on…
Review: Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle
A couple of weeks before I saw this film, I read filmmaker Werner Herzog’s first novel "The Twilight World,” which draws on his meeting 25 years ago with Hiroo Onoda,…
Reviews: She Said and Women Talking
I saw these two films just days apart and they seemed to speak to one another. Both take on sexual predation, but from very different viewpoints. She Said is a…
Review: The Fabelmans
Steven Spielberg knows storytelling. So it's really no surprise that The Spielbergs - er, I mean The Fabelmans - is a good yarn. It's a semi-autobiographical drama that dives into…
Review: Breaking
Watching this "based on a true story" drama, you can't help but think back to several other films about decent men taking hostages because the system is horribly unfair to…
Review: Thirteen Lives
Thirteen Lives is one of those inspiring movies that you can't really find much fault with (unless you're claustrophobic). It's based on a true story that screamed "miracle movie" from…
Review: Huda’s Salon
This riveting “based on true events” thriller from two-time Academy Award nominee Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now, Omar) is set in the West Bank. Reem (Maisa Abd Elhadi) is a young Palestinian…
Review: Being the Ricardos
Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago Seven, The Social Network) is the undisputed master of clever, snappy dialogue. And here he turns his gift to telling the story of…
Review: Belfast
This Oscar-bait memoir movie comes from writer/actor/director Kenneth Branagh who takes a look back at a defining year of his childhood. Branagh was just a 9-year-old boy in 1969, living…
Review: King Richard
If you're at all into tennis, this is a must see. Even if you're not, you can't help but be aware of the amazing Williams sisters, Venus and Serena. King…
Review: Tick, Tick…Boom!
Tick, Tick...Boom! Andrew Garfield is dynamite and so is this film--especially if you’re a musical theater geek. Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights, Hamilton) makes…
Review: Spencer
If ever there were an anti-Hallmark movie, a fairy tale in reverse, this might be it! From the very first frame, Spencer self-identifies as “a fable from a true tragedy,”…