TNT’s limited series I Am the Night is a large dose of noir for the small screen. It is moody and ominous, but with a certain moral light flickering amidst overwhelming darkness that envelops the story. It is the kind of story that will eat the characters alive.
Styx – The Ethics of Life and Death
This is a new telling of the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25ff.). Jesus spoke that parable in answer to the question “Who is my neighbor (who the Law says I must love)?”
Cold War – Smoldering Sorrow
“Love’s love and that’s that.” A pair of star-crossed lovers are the focus of Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, Poland’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film consideration. Set in the years following the Second World War, it moves back and forth between the Communist and Democratic worlds, but it is not the geopolitical situation that is… [Read More]
Stan & Ollie – True Friendship
Laurel and Hardy was one of the greatest comedy duos of all time. They bumbled their way into the hearts of audiences that have spanned generations. Stan & Ollie, from director Jon S. Baird, is both an homage to brilliance of their comedy, and an examination of what friendship means.
Vox Lux – Losing Innocence, Personal and National
Vox Lux is a story of the loss of innocence. It is also a reflection on the possibility of losing one’s foundational values along with that innocence. While we see this play out in the life of a girl and the woman she becomes, it may also give us pause to think about society and nations and what we all may be becoming.
Everybody Knows – Disclosing Open Secrets
In Everybody Knows, director Asghar Farhadi leaves Iranian stresses behind (cf., A Separation, The Past, and The Salesman) for a more Eurocentric story.
Shoplifters – A Twisted Family Tale
Winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, Shoplifters is a part of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s examination of family’s place within society. This is a topic he has looked at from various angles in other films, notably Like Father, Like Son; Our Little Sister; Nobody Knows; and I Wish. (I recommend them all.)
The Favourite – Machiavellian Comedy
“I’m on my side. Always.” It isn’t news that politics can be a cutthroat sport. But in the hands of Yorgos Lanthimos, all that palace intrigue can become the basis of humor. The Favourite is a Machiavellian comedy set 400 years ago that reflects the way power often happens in secret, but with important consequences…. [Read More]
Jinn – Coming of Age and Coming to Faith
Teenage years can be a difficult time as one tries establish an identity. But what happens when religion is suddenly put into the mix? In Jinn, a young woman must learn how to fit Islam into her life and determine how to adapt herself to a new way of seeing things.
Roma – A Loving Memory of Life
In a taped message before the screening of Roma at AFIFest, director Alfonso Cuarón noted that it was based on memories from his childhood in Mexico City in 1971, and called it “a love letter to the women who raised me.”
