This beautiful and beautifully strange animated film, which originally was released in France in 1980, has taken a long and tortured road to reach the United States. It’s a surreal satire of the perils of tyranny, told in twisted fairy tale form. Try and find it if it comes anywhere...
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Reviews
What the Flick?! — The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1
The first half of the film adaptation of the third book in “The Hunger Games” trilogy feels like a stretched-out placeholder for the real finale. Jennifer Lawrence is strong as always, though, as Katniss, who’s now the reluctant symbol of hope for the revolution....
Read moreWhat the Flick?! — Beyond the Lights
Gugu Mbatha-Raw gives a powerhouse performance as a Rihanna-esque R&B singer on the brink of superstardom, and she has insane chemistry with Nate Parker as the member of her security detail with whom she falls in love. Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s film has its melodramatic moments, but Parker and Mbatha-Raw bring...
Read moreWhat the Flick?! — Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
“Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas” — or as I like to think of it, “Tyler Perry’s Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas” — is a holiday comedy for Christian audiences that’s hilarious in its ineptitude. Seriously, how did this get released? It’s “The Room” of Christmas movies. Alonso and I had a good...
Read moreWhat the Flick?! — Remembering Mike Nichols
Matt, Alonso and I look back at the staggeringly diverse and consistently sharp career of Mike Nichols, who died this week at age 83. It’s hard to think of another director working today who matches his depth and range, and who draws such inspired work from established actors....
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Five Favorite Films at Los Feliz Day Care
One of my favorite Twitter feeds these days is Los Feliz Day Care, a dead-on parody of uptight, ultra-P.C. parenting and educational tactics. Whether or not you’re a parent, you should seriously check it out — you will cackle daily. As the mother of a 5-year-old in Los Angeles, I...
Read moreInterstellar
Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures Rated PG-13 for some intense perilous action and brief strong language. Running time: 169 minutes. Two stars out of four. Yes, I recognize the egregious tardiness of this review. “Interstellar” has been out for over a week now. I’ve started and stopped writing about...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Theory of Everything
“The Theory of Everything” is biopic about one of the most brilliant people in the history of the planet, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. He’s a man famous for thinking in boldly innovative ways, yet his story is told in the safest and most conventional method imaginable. Director James Marsh...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Actress
The documentary “Actress” blurs the line between reality and performance in following its subject, former actress Brandy Burre, a mother of two trying break back into the business. Director Robert Greene takes a look at this inherently dramatic woman in ways that are both unadorned and artful. My RogerEbert.com review....
Read moreWhat the Flick?! — The Theory of Everything
So good to be back with my friends talking movies after a couple of weeks away. One of the biggies during this busy week is the Stephen Hawking biopic “The Theory of Everything,” which features strong performances but overall is frustratingly conventional....
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