Whenever I attend a film festival, particularly the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, I try to schedule at least one film near the beginning or the end with the potential… Continue reading "Jim Allison: Breakthrough (Haney, 2019) — Full Frame 2019"
There is a scene early in the first episode of Jesus: His Life, where Robert Cargill cavalierly announces that the census which requires Joseph to take Mary to Bethlehem on… Continue reading "Jesus: His Life (2019)"
Faith, Hope & Love unites two of the most formulaic genres in today’s movies: the romantic comedy and the “Christian” film. Given that starting point, the film shouldn’t work nearly… Continue reading "Faith, Hope & Love (Englert and Krantz, 2019)"
It’s been roughly four years (and a rough four years) since I gave a 1 1/2 star review to Avengers: Age of Ultron. Since then, I have admitted to liking… Continue reading "Captain Marvel (Boden and Fleck)"
I first encountered the political career of Barack Obama not through a convention speech or town hall debate but through Bob Hercules’s Senator Obama Goes to Africa. I won’t say… Continue reading "Time for Ilhan (Shapiro, 2018)"
Calling a film “difficult” or “hard” is, in some respects, a no-win proposition for a reviewer. If that label is given in conjunction with a poor review, it invites barbs… Continue reading "Transit (Petzold, 2019)"
Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased was my favorite film of 2018. It’s portrait of a young, gay man voluntarily undergoing sexual reassignment “counseling” was equal parts horrifying, heart-breaking, and challenging. But… Continue reading "The Sunday Sessions (Yeagley, 2018)"
When Cirque du Soleil last visited Raleigh, it was to present Crystal, an entertaining blend of ice-capades and acrobatics. The troupe returns to the PNC Arena next month with Corteo.… Continue reading "Corteo coming to Raleigh"
Films about canonical investigations aren’t exactly a genre, but neither are they as rare as The Apparition seems to think. In an interview from Filmfest Munchen on the Music Box… Continue reading "The Apparition (Giannoli, 2018)"
When M. Night Shyamalan’s Split met with favorable reviews in 2016, I wondered pretty openly whether or not the film’s twist left a fresher taste in viewer’s mouths than the… Continue reading "Glass (Shyamalan, 2019)"
