• October 30, 2014
• At Home, Drama, Thriller

Jake Gyllenhaal, from the moment he is on screen, is fantastically riveting. I won’t say he is unrecognizable in his role as Lou Bloom, a conscience-free opportunist with a...

• September 24, 2014
• At Home, Drama, War

Even after a century, it is surprising how many great stories can be mined from World War I. It is now truly in the past, as there are (most...

• August 24, 2014
• Adventure, At Home, Comedy, Drama

I settled in to watch The Hunting Party with a mixture of trepidation and anticipation. On the one hand, I usually like anything starring Richard Gere, and on the...

• July 25, 2014
• At Home, Comedy, Drama

Wag the Dog is one of those films that will probably have cyclical relevance through the years, depending on who is in the Oval Office. There will be years...

• January 8, 2014
• At Home, Drama, War

I visited Cambodia a few years ago—it’s a beautiful country with lovely land and a youthful population (which betrays the millions killed during the Khmer Rouge’s reign in the...

• December 23, 2013
• At Home, Comedy

For our Anchorman 2 review, we thought we’d get the opinion of an expert. Welcome our guest reviewer, retired veteran newsman, Norm Gunning of Portland’s KATU! – Editor Saw...

• December 22, 2013
• At Home, Drama, Thriller

“Watergate” is one of those pop-culture words where the true significance has always flown over my head. Nixon was president when I was born, so I was just a...

• November 21, 2013
• At Home, Documentary, Television

It has been said that television came of age when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It was the first time that the American public turned in droves to...

• October 30, 2013
• At Home, Documentary, Science Fiction

Orson Welles will forever be remembered as the director of arguably the best film ever made, Citizen Kane (though, honestly, my first association with him was shilling Paul Masson...

• October 16, 2013
• At Home, Drama, Thriller

First of all, let me put this out there… Per Wikipedia: The term “Fifth Estate” has no fixed meaning, but is used — following a formulation that dates back...

• February 9, 2013
• At Home, Drama, Mystery, Television

When I see TV mini-series like BBC’s excellent State of Play, I’m reminded of how the TV medium can be as powerful as the big screen, if just given...

• June 22, 2007
• At Home, Drama

Angelina Jolie is (or can be) a very good actress. Angelina Jolie does a lot of great things with her celebrity. Alas, Angelina Jolie is also extremely overexposed in...