The opening voice over of The Whole Truth sets the tone of the film. While it sounds very much like an old school detective from film noir, it is actually spoken by Richard Ramsey (Keanu Reeves), a defense attorney who is defending Mike Lassiter (Gabriel Basso) on...
Hollywood has played itself in films frequently. It is the land of glamor and dreams. But it can be very hard on those who dream of making it. It is filled with nostalgia and with visions of new art. How do you tell that story yet again in a way that is both...
?Some people build fences to keep people out; other people build fences to keep people in.? Fences is a film version of an August Wilson stage play which won both a Pulitzer and a Tony. (The screenplay was adapted by Wilson before his death.) Set in an...
As I go over the films of this last year, these are the ones that rise above the others for me. I usually pick twelve films because I like the alliteration of Darrel?s Dozen. This year I?m only naming eleven because I haven?t seen Martin Scorsese?s Silence yet. Given...
?What?s wrong with you people?? Anyone who?s made a trip to the DMV (and that would be nearly everyone) knows that bureaucracy can make you crazy. But what if you were dependent on the bureaucracy to get by day by day? I, Daniel Blake is Ken Loach?s most recent tale...
Pablo Larra?n has started to become known to American filmgoers with stories about Chile?s history and social issues such as No and The Club. (He is soon to become much better known here for directing Jackie.) His latest Chilean focused film is Neruda about the famous...
?When something starts with a six year old dying, nothing?s going to feel right.? Unresolved grief fills and drives Collateral Beauty. The film opens with a joyful Howard (Will Smith) presiding over his ad agency?s Christmas party, reminding his employees that they...
Let?s get it out of the way from the start: The Brand New Testament is a sacrilegious, blasphemous film. But once you get past that, you may discover that this dark comedy speaks to us about finding love and joy in a world that is often defined by death. The key...
?If you?re old enough to go to war, you?re old enough to clean up your mess.? At the end of World War II, the Danish army used German POWs to clear their beaches of over two million landmines the Germans had put there during their occupation. Land of Mine (Denmark?s...