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James in his letter could be describing Rose (Jessie Buckley) in director Thea Sharrock and writer Jonny Sweet’s wicked little movie, set in the town of Littlehampton, England, back in the 1920s. However, another citizen excedes her in vituperation, but not by words spoken aloud—instead, in “wicked little letters,” mailed to various citizens. The film …
Palestinian-Jordanian Ameen Nayfeh director/writer shows us the effect that the Israeli wall dividing the West Bank from Israel has on a Palestinian family. It is an effective tool for a better understanding of “the Palestinian situation” than an abstract discussion of the issues because it never preaches, but rather tells a story of an ordinary …
Frank Herbert’s massive novel was considered by some as “unfilmable, and when David Lynch’s version came out in 1984, Roger Ebert branded it “a real mess.” Not so Dennis Villeneuve 2021 version, which proved not only a big box office success, but also went on to be nominated for 10 Academy Awards. That version sets …
Director Michael Mohel combines horror with religion in this tale of twisted religious fanaticism joined with male chauvinism. It is so bloody that potential viewers need to steel themselves as the climax looms ahead. Postulant nun Cecilia ( Sydney Sweeney), just off the plane at Rome, is delayed by two leering customs officers who state …
French-born director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire has gifted us with the most harrowing parable about an ambulance medic since Martin Scorsese’ 1999 film Bringing Out the Dead. That title fits the newer film as well, with so many of the victims treated by the two medics in this story dying before or just after arriving at the hospital, …
Director Louise Archambault brings us our second film this month dealing with a rescuer during the Holocaust. The script is by Dan Gordon, based on his Broadway play focusing on the young Polish nurse Irena Gut Opdyke. Like One Life, it is a heartening example of what one well-lived life can accomplish. Irena (Sophie Nélisse) …
Almost exactly 24 years ago I reviewed the documentary Into the Arms of Strangers that told the story of the Kindertransport, a group of projects involving ten thousand Jewish children whom kind-hearted people were able to transport to England from Hitler-dominated Europe just before World War Two erupted. Director James Hawes’s, film straddling two time …
With little fanfare this inspiring film opened in our theaters midway into Women’s History Month, but it is even more timely—and significant– for another reason. It is probably the best defense of immigrants that you will see in this or any year. Although the name Mother Cabrini is well known because she became the first …
Simon Cellan Jones bases his new film on the book Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home. The film is a combination of the typical dog story, in which a mutt captures your heart, with a sports film aimed to pump up the rate of your heartbeat. The sport is Adventure Racing …
This based-on-a-true-story film can serve as a tonic for those jaded by so much bad news from politics, shootings, and the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. Though highly embellished, director Jon Gunn’s reminds us that here are a lot of good people out there who care about their fellow humans. There is …