Uplifting the Barrooms: ‘The Reverend’
Vince Anderson enters the modest stage in robes and long beard, striking the image of Dr. John working magic in music through a keyboard, a growly soulful voice and a…
Movie Review: ‘Cabrini,’ the Activist Nun
Before its current popular usage, “Nevertheless, she persisted” could certainly have been applied to Francesca Cabrini, a 19th century nun from what is now Northern Italy. Determined, organized, successful in…
Film Review: Selina Ringel’s ‘You, Me & Her’
Things aren’t going well for Mags and Ash, an L.A. couple who are each busy struggling with their businesses — she’s forced to be a fund manager with her dismissive…
Film Review: ‘The Shift’ Bait and Switch
Trailers for “The Shift” makes it look like a sci-fi suspense thriller, with some recognizable stars (chief among them, Neal McDonough, above) and competent special effects such that people jump…
Film Review: ‘Escape From Extinction’
Anyone who has seen a sad monkey in a cage might quickly conclude zoos are the wrong way to treat animals. Bad treatment in such places was likely the standard…
Film Review: ‘Burt Reynolds: The Last Interview’
One highlight in Rick Pamplin’s documentary “Burt Reynolds: The Last Interview” is learning that the actor was the original choice for the George Spahn character in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 “Once…
Movie Review: Sharp Southern ‘Mob Land’
“Mob Land” is a rather misleading title for a strong rural drama that’s the directorial debut of Nicholas Maggio, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Rather than some Jersey or Vegas-centered…
Movie Review: ‘Mid-Century’ Muddle
It’s great when architecture is a featured part of a motion picture, setting the tone for things like “Parasite” or “Columbus” or “The Matrix.” It’s central, too, to the indie…
Film Review: ‘Altered Perceptions’
The death toll is mounting mightily as Jorge Ameer’s film “Altered Perceptions” begins. It is a work of fiction, we are reminded, but the disaster seems is not just inspired…
Film Review: ‘The Seeds of Vendana Shiva’
It’s hard not to immediately warm to the Indian activist Vandana Shiva, who traded in her studies of biotechnology into a one-woman campaign against industrial farming, genetically moderated organisms, and…