FEEL GOOD FILM FOR THIS VIRUS WEEK. An exhilaratingly vibrant musical from the maker of Whiplash is 21st Century but feels like a lighthearted portmanteau of Hollywood’s glory days in the genre when Rogers and Astaire had many hearts aflutter. Rhode Island’s Damien Chazelle writes and directs an indelible La La Land which is sweeping in its Cinemascope presentation […]
Reviews
The Climb
A low-budgeter gamer a release just as the devastating COVID-19 global pandemic really started to surge in the U.S. is this assured debut from Michael Angelo Covino. The Climb features Covino and co-writer Kyle Marvin in an extension of an applauded short having roles with the own (first) names as best friends from childhood. Sharp observational […]
Extra Ordinary
This Irish import has a feel for the Midnight Madness crowd, but is weirdly riveting, full of wit and the supernatural. Extra Ordinary stars Maeve Higgins, Barry Ward, and Will Forte. Higgins’ Rose Dooley is self-employed as a driving instructor though his gifts in the paranormal haven’t resulted well, at least in one key case. […]
I Still Believe
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Plaintively attenuated for our times is the thoughtful, yet hardly melodramatic new film from Eliza Hittman. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is kept at a very low boil to rely more on simplicity and honesty instead of getting overly political when it comes to abortion and those not yet of age. It’s about the struggles to […]