Between the Temples – Sundance 2024

A cantor is facing a crisis as he trains his former grade school music teacher for an adult Bat Mitzvah in Between the Temples. It’s always amazing to hear about the genesis behind a project. In this case, real life events would inspire this moving and funny film. It’s entertaining and I love how it’s not just Jewish stereotypes coming across the screen. These are real people and for my Jewish LGBTQ friends, there’s also…

"Between the Temples – Sundance 2024"

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the newest addition to The Hunger Games franchise and the film is dreadfully long. The film runs just over two and a half hours, which means sitting nearly three hours in a theater when one factors in trailers. Does such a film need to be this long? Hardly. By the time the film went beyond the 2 hour mark, I was beginning to feel my…

"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes"

Asteroid City Is A Classic Wes Anderson Film

Wes Anderson has done it again with his newest ensemble comedy, Asteroid City, releasing in theaters following its Cannes premiere. Anderson is one of those filmmakers that you either love or you don’t. I had an enjoyable enough time that I look forward to diving into the bonus features for the home release. Anyway, Anderson takes the audience to a fictional city in the American Southwest in 1955. To say that it is a small…

"Asteroid City Is A Classic Wes Anderson Film"

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is Awesome Fun

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse not only manages to improve on its predecessor but it is one of the best pictures of the year. Unlike many Marvel films that came before, there is not a scene during the credits. However, there is a lot of animation to appreciate as the credits run their course. It’s the ONLY disappointment about an otherwise amazing film. What I can say with 100% certainty is that Spider-Man: Across the Universe…

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is Awesome Fun"

The French Dispatch Is Short of Masterpiece Status

The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson’s love letter to journalism especially The New Yorker, is a mostly good film that’s well worth the wait. This film is a series of vignettes focusing on a travelogue, art, student protests, and a police kidnapping. The four stories come from the final issue of The French Dispatch, based in the fictional French city of Ennui-sur-Blasé. Outside of the city, nothing ties them together. Together, the vignettes do feature an…

"The French Dispatch Is Short of Masterpiece Status"

Saving Mr. Banks Goes Behind The Scenes

Inspired by true events, Saving Mr. Banks is a film that takes us behind the scenes of how Mary Poppins came to the big screen. The art of filmmaking is a painstaking process.  This is something I’ve learned not just through watching bonus features but reading biographies about classic Hollywood.  On paper, there’s nothing inherently wrong with the film.  It’s only when you dig deeper into the actual story where the film has its faults. …

"Saving Mr. Banks Goes Behind The Scenes"

Funny People: Judd Apatow’s Dramedy Hits 10 Years

Judd Apatow’s third-directed feature, Funny People, marks its tenth anniversary since being theatrically released ten years ago. Funny People marks somewhat of a departure from Apatow’s earlier features.  George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is more of a mature character than the leads in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up.  He doesn’t come off as the man-child in the earlier Apatow fare.  Though to be fair, Simmons does act quite immature during the third act during a…

"Funny People: Judd Apatow’s Dramedy Hits 10 Years"

Wine Country: A Saturday Night Live Reunion

Wine Country reunites Amy Poehler with many of her Saturday Night Live colleagues as they travel to California for a birthday weekend. Rebecca (Rachel Dratch) Catherine (Ana Gasteyer), Abby (Amy Poehler), Naomi (Maya Rudolph), Val (Paula Pell), and Jenny (Emily Spivey) are all gathering for a special weekend.  The weekend just so happens to be Rebecca’s 50th birthday.  As such, the women are off to California’s Wine Country to celebrate the milestone birthday.  It’s here where they…

"Wine Country: A Saturday Night Live Reunion"

Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary is Nostalgic

Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary is the perfect way to offer closure to the series should there never be a reboot.  I said as much on Twitter during the world premiere at Tribeca in April. In just over an hour, Brent Hodge manages to reunite the cast and crew of Freaks and Geeks by way of contemporary interviews while revisiting the set of the 1999-2000 series.  As the series did so on September 25, 1999,…

"Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary is Nostalgic"

Tribeca 2018: Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary

Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary is the perfect way to offer closure to the series should there never be a reboot. In just over an hour, Brent Hodge manages to reunite the cast and crew of Freaks and Geeks by way of contemporary interviews while revisiting the set of the 1999-2000 series.  As the series did so on September 25, 1999, the documentary’s world premiere was also on a Saturday night at 8 PM. Fans…

"Tribeca 2018: Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary"