Film: Baseball’s Intimidating Strike King
If anybody in the last half century of baseball deserves a bio film, it’s Nolan Ryan, the hard throwing Texan pitcher, who racked up dozens of records in a 27…
Film Review: ‘Beneath the Banyan Tree’
It’s a heady time for Asian filmmaking, from the Oscar for Japan's “Drive My Car” to the recent premiere of the Korean-American streaming series "Pachinko." Fitting well among them is…
Film Review: ‘Not to Forget’ Forgettable
Alzheimer’s is a deadly disease and a scourge, affecting more than 6 million Americans alone. It’s also challenging to depict in film, though there have been notable performances from Julia…
Film: Blissfully Lolling in ‘Lotawana’
When it came to making “Lotawana,” his first feature film, Trevor Hawkins had a lot of experience on which to draw. He had been an Emmy-award winning nature photography whose…
Film: Trapped in the Thriller ‘Outlier’
When the pandemic first hit, L.A. filmmaker Nate Strayer went back to Michigan to lock down with family. As COVID continued, he decided to make a film there. He flew…
Film Review: ‘Single Mother By Choice’
When stars become pregnant during production, Hollywood’s usual procedure is to hide the bump, as they did when Gal Gadot returned to do some “Wonder Woman” reshoots while five months…
Film Review: Circumnavigating for Survival
When navigating a return to civilian life after being in the Navy proved rocky for one veteran Taylor Grieger, he dedicated himself to a mother mission: sailing down fo the…
Selling Trophy Hunting as Conservation
There’s some beautiful footage of East Africa in the documentary film “Killing the Shepherd” about a struggling rural village in Zambia whose lives, we are told, is threatened by poachers…
Film Review: ‘The Last Days of Capitalism’
“The Last Days of Capitalism” is the wonkier-than-necessary title of Adam Mervis’ latest film. Its two characters do discuss and demonstrate some of the ups and downs of the free…
Film Review: Optimistic ‘Seeding Change’
The preponderance of documentaries on climate crisis are so deeply depressing, with the prospects for the future so dire, one can hardly make it to a conclusion where there might…