Here are five nice things I can say about the people involved in the production of Firestarter: Writer Scott Teems did a great documentary about Hal Holbrook playing Mark Twain… Continue reading "Firestarter (Thomas, 2022)"
The underlying message of almost all “Christian” films is that we are better than them. I use the “we” consciously since one mark of a Christian film is that it… Continue reading "No Vacancy (Saylors, 2022)"
The similarities between Charlotte and Persepolis are so striking and so persistent that it feels suspicious to resist the former and embrace the latter. Both films are about female artists… Continue reading "Charlotte (Rana and Warin, 2021)"
Hey all…spoilers, I guess…that is, if you can profess with a straight face to not knowing exactly what is going to happen in this movie from the opening scene onward…… Continue reading "The Bad Guys (Perifel, 2022)"
For fans of gospel music or those looking for some different streaming options around the Easter holiday, April brings two documentaries about the roots and development of gospel. How They… Continue reading "Pair of Gospel Documentaries on the Festival Circuit"
It is never a bad time to remind thoughtful viewers that pressures on young people to thrive academically are as high and as potentially traumatizing as pressures to succeed artistically… Continue reading "Accepted (Chen, 2021)"
I paused Mama Bears in the first hour and wrote in my notes: “It sometimes feels not enough for me that the mamma bears have reformed once their own children… Continue reading "Mama Bears (Kyi, 2022)"
Ambulance is an amoral film about amoral people that made me angry. That doesn’t mean you won’t like it, and if you don’t it may be for very different reasons.… Continue reading "Ambulance (Bay, 2022)"
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is so ubiquitous in the American classroom that it is a bit surprising that there is not yet a definitive film adaptation. Not that… Continue reading "The Yellow Wallpaper (Pontuti, 2020)"
As anyone who reads this blog knows, I am a documentary fan. Two of my absolute favorites in the genre (Shut Up and Sing!; The Queen of Versailles) are ones… Continue reading "Belle Vie (Mizelle, 2022)"
