The Lion KingDirected by Jon Favreau Twenty five years after the much-loved, more traditionally animated version of “The Lion King,” this new film is the latest Disney project to re-make classic content in a more photo-realistic (or in some cases live action) style. And taken purely as a visual...
On the fateful day four gunmen took forty-one Sacramentans hostage at a Good Guys electronics store in 1991, filmmaker Nick Leisure was but a teenager captivated by the live event transmitting just a block away from his local hangout. Inspired by the critical events, Leisure will present his latest...
Spider-Man: Far from HomeDirected by Jon Watts Although many seem to have viewed the still very recent “Avengers: Endgame” as the last installment in an era of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, if direct statements to the contrary from the producers weren’t enough, then the actual last...
YesterdayDirected by Danny Boyle The central conceit of “”Yesterday” is both simple and wonderful as the starting point for a film. What if somebody found themselves in an alternate reality in which nobody had ever heard of The Beatles but that person could remember their songs and became famous...
Late NightDirected by Nisha Ganatra and Written by Mindy Kaling The most interesting and appealing of the new films this week is “Late Night” starring Emma Thompson as long time talk show host Katherine Newberry who’s lost her edge and her ratings, but not her “Devil Wears Prada” style of...
RocketmanDirected by Dexter Fletcher “Rocketman” is the film that “Bohemian Rhapsody” wasn’t, despite the great acclaim it received. Where ”Bohemian Rhapsody” was an enjoyable, sanitized, and entirely conventional biopic about the life and career of Freddie Mercury, “Rocketman” is, by comparison...
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Directed by Chad Stahelski In 2014, “John Wick” burst onto the scene as one of those seemingly quite simple ideas, in which somebody wrongs the wrong somebody. In this case an ex-hitman who values his car and dog more than most people. But there was more going on...
Avengers: Endgame Directed by Anthony Russo & Joe Russo It’s a testament to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that even with some significant flaws, watching the 22nd film in the current series is still a pretty great experience. The movie starts where “Avengers: Infinity War” left off, with the...
Shazam!Directed by David F. Sandberg Watching and reviewing “Shazam!” is an odd exercise in what seem like backhanded compliments as it’s a story and set of characters that exist in DC Comics but, as a film at least, it feels more like a Marvel production. And for material like this, that’s a good...
Five Feet Apart Directed by Justin Baldoni A film about love challenged, or perhaps cut short, by disease is nothing original. For older viewers it’s almost de rigeur to harken back to 1970’s “Love Story” with Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal. For others, one of the better, more recent iterations of the...
