• February 22, 2024
• Action, At Home, Comedy, Thriller

The Coen Brothers, even with their occasional misfires, are a magic moviemaking duo. But in Ethan Coen’s solo directorial debut, adapting a screenplay by his wife Tricia Cooke, he...

• September 19, 2023
• At Home, Drama

There’s a moment so gentle and lovely in The Unknown Country: A young woman named Tana (Lily Gladstone) meets her great-uncle (Richard Ray Whitman) for the first time since...

• August 23, 2019
• At Home, Drama

I can count on single digits how many mentally or physically disabled actors I’ve seen in major film or television productions, so it is always refreshing to see a...

• July 6, 2018
• At Home, Comedy, Drama

We all know someone who has a capacity like no other to charm us into anything, then let us down hard. For Laura Jaconi (Vera Farmiga), this someone is...

• July 12, 2016
• At Home, Comedy

Like many folks, I can recite many lines from the cheeseball Chevy Chase 80s classic National Lampoon’s Vacation. Like many folks, I don’t remember demanding that Hollywood remake a...

• September 10, 2015
• At Home, Drama

As suggested by its title, The Odd Way Home is not your typical road movie. After fleeing an abusive boyfriend with a bloodied face, several bottles of pills, and...

• December 27, 2014
• Adventure, At Home, Drama

Director Sean Penn delivers a thoughtful, somber, enlightening and occasionally exuberant drama with his big-screen adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name, which tells the true story...

• November 11, 2014
• At Home, Comedy

Now, I’m a fan of Melissa McCarthy. She’s a great physical comedian, has a blunt potty mouth that makes me laugh, and has totally cute dimples that are delightfully...

• October 14, 2014
• At Home, Drama

Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) has lost his mojo. No, let’s just say he is on auto-pilot. When he started out his career, he was hailed as the next...

• September 1, 2014
• At Home, Drama

Thus begins the latest installment of the well-worn Quirky Road Trip Movie genre. Sure, the guy can have the car, but can he drop the girl off first? Oh,...

• April 15, 2014
• At Home, Drama

Judi Dench, consummate pro of an actress that she is, made me cry 8 minutes into Philomena. Her adult daughter (Anna Maxwell Martin) is rushing off to a late...

• November 21, 2013
• At Home, Comedy, Drama

If there is one enduring image from the slice of Americana that is Nebraska, it is of befuddled, weathered Bruce Dern, sitting blankly with his fuzzy white hair back-lit...