THE TRUTH CANNOT BE CONVERTED. An adaptation of Garrard Conley’s memoir that changes names and circumstances for dramatic purposes, but retains the book’s invaluable peek inside the gay-conversion therapy movement that can easily be labeled child abuse. We follow an 18-year-old in Arkansas who realizes that he might be gay, wants to change and subjects … Continue reading Boy Erased
PREPARE TO COME UNDER THEIR SPELL. Two Massachusetts sisters (Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman) who come from a long line of witches live with a curse that says any man who falls in love with them is doomed. Director Griffin Dunne followed up Addicted to Love (1997) with another romantic film, this one with a supernatural … Continue reading Practical Magic
A LITTLE BEAR WILL MAKE A BIG SPLASH. After an earthquake makes him homeless, a young marmalade-loving bear makes his way from Peru to London where he’s temporarily cared for by the Brown family. The perennial childhood favorite Paddington makes his way to the big screen in a jolly, enthusiastic and very British adventure likely … Continue reading Paddington
Four years after the first miniseries, Sydney Detective Robin Griffin (Elisabeth Moss) is investigating the death of an Asian girl who’s floated ashore at Bondi Beach. Jane Campion’s follow-up to the highly acclaimed but somewhat overrated Top of the Lake (2013) didn’t go down as well among critics, which certainly can’t be blamed on the … Continue reading Top of the Lake: China Girl
DO NOT DISTURB THE FAMILY. After the death of her father, his mysterious brother (Matthew Goode) comes to visit India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) and her mother (Nicole Kidman); uncle Charlie has a profound effect on them both… The director’s first international film was written by Prison Break star Wentworth Miller and deliberately shares similarities with … Continue reading Stoker
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIE. A star-studded miniseries that takes us to an affluent Monterey community and primarily its women. At first, we in the audience learn that police are investigating a murder but the victim remains a secret to us until the last episode. What plays out before that is a stylishly directed soap opera … Continue reading Big Little Lies
After attending a Christmas party that results in an argument with his wife (Nicole Kidman), New York doctor Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) leaves their apartment and is ultimately tempted to go to a mysterious engagement at a country mansion… Stanley Kubrick’s last movie became his biggest commercial hit because of the leads’ star charisma and … Continue reading Eyes Wide Shut
A QUIET LITTLE TOWN NOT FAR FROM HERE. The residents of Dogville, Colorado, agree to offer runaway Grace (Nicole Kidman) sanctuary, with discomforting consequences. Lars von Trier’s first part of a planned trilogy about the U.S. was shot entirely on a soundstage with white stripes standing in for the buildings of Dogville (and the actors … Continue reading Dogville
THE GREATEST ROLE GRACE KELLY WOULD EVER PLAY. In 1963, at a time when France is challenging Monaco’s sovereignty, Princess Grace (Nicole Kidman) is offered to return to Hollywood for a lead role in a Hitchcock movie. After delays, public protests from Monaco’s royal family and signs of disapproval from the film’s distributors came this … Continue reading Grace of Monaco
WHEN TERROR IS AT YOUR DOOR, YOU CAN RUN, OR YOU CAN FIGHT. The wealthy Miller family’s mansion is invaded one night by armed robbers looking for a diamond stash that they know is in the house. Joel Schumacher serves up 90 minutes of boredom with liberal doses of nastiness as a game plays out … Continue reading Trespass
In 1969, reporter Ward Jansen (Matthew McConaughey) and his younger brother (Zac Efron) are investigating the background behind an upcoming execution, helped by a woman (Nicole Kidman) who’s fallen in love with the convict. The dark novel has fans, but the movie is more of a guilty pleasure. A steamy, dirty Southern tale with no … Continue reading The Paperboy
SOMETIMES A GUY’S BEST WINGMAN… IS A WINGWOMAN. Los Angeles plastic surgeon Danny Maccabee (Adam Sandler) usually lets his dates know that he’s married (which is not true) in order to keep his affairs strictly sexual, but his latest fling (Brooklyn Decker) is different… Another Dugan/Sandler collaboration, this time a remake of Cactus Flower (1969), … Continue reading Just Go With It
WE WERE GOOD IN WAR. AND WHEN THERE WAS NO WAR, WE MADE OUR OWN. In 1936, war correspondent Martha Gellhorn (Nicole Kidman) meets Ernest Hemingway (Clive Owen) in Key West; their subsequent relationship is marked by wars and a fiery romance. Another prestige project from HBO, directed by a famous filmmaker, with movie stars … Continue reading Hemingway & Gellhorn
