Zellweger surely becomes the part in Judy

Having only the clear memory of the young Dorothy of countless viewings of The Wizard of Oz and fuzzy recollections of the aging actress that players her that showed up on my TV in black-and-white in various programs my parents watched during my youth to go on, I cannot say that Renee Zellweger’s portrayal of…

The Peanut Butter Falcon hits the sweet spot

Zak doesn’t lack for endless spirit or proper anger, living as a twentysomething in a center for seniors somewhere in the south. He’s a fellow with no family, a man with Down syndrome, a resident who’s won over his roommate in his quest to escape that lonely existence into the big, wild world. They’ve watched…

Tarantino’s vision of 1969 Hollywood grips us in our time, too

Violence. Profanity. Glorious cinematography. Wicked storytelling. You betcha, Quentin Tarintino checked all his usual boxes with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And that means the director and writer has delivered to our times a winding tale bursting with his unusual view of his art and our world in general. In this 2-hour, 29-minute epic,…

Discoveries in Where’d You Go, Bernadette carry a true joy

Sometimes the best of us can get lost without really identifying the when’s, why’s and how’s. That’s the point behind the very agreeable Where’d You Go, Bernadette, a lovely and loving piece of work directed by Richard Linklater from his screenplay co-written with Holly Gent (and very much driven by Maria Semple’s popular novel). We…

Fast and Furious franchise can still count on its Rock

The slam-bang of Fast and Furious rolls along right along. This ninth edition of the world-goes-fast franchise isn’t quite a sequel. The adventure directed by David Leitch from the screenplay by Chris Morgan and Drew Pearce does not gather together the familiar ensemble of crafty characters to eliminate the dangers put in front of them…