ScreenShots: “Civil War”
There has been quite a bit of buzz building ahead of the release of Alex Garland’s “Civil War” – expected to take theaters by storm on April 12. The movie attracted our attention for various reasons: a lot of casual talk about, well, an actual civil war in this country; the fact that journalists serve…
ScreenShots: Invasion Of The Capgras Delusion
Never a fan of gore and splatter movies and with limited time to entertain ourselves after a workday we searched for a sci-fi classic in black and white and settled on the trailblazing “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” No, not the Donald Sutherland/Leonard Nimoy re-make in which dear old San Francisco becomes the garden of…
ScreenShots: “Epées, Sabers, Or Pistols?” – The Duellists
Ever have a small, perceived offense – taking someone’s parking spot, stepping on someone’s sneakers, inadvertently cutting someone off on the freeway – turn into a long-term sparring match with an individual of questionable mental equilibrium and a penchant for weaponry? Right. Such is the motivation behind the debut effort of director Ridley Scott, who…
ScreenShots: “The Man Who Wasn’t There”
As movie-lovers whose taste runs to the Coen, we’re not sure how we missed this one over the years, but we did. This black-and-white sonnet to film noir is lovingly crafted and executed, driven and narrated by a chain-smoking Billy Bob Thornton – second chair in a three-chair barber shop in Santa Rosa during the…
ScreenShots: “Win Win”
Small-town attorney Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is struggling to keep his practice solvent, moonlighting as a high school wrestling coach while shielding his wife, Jackie (Amy Ryan), and their two young daughters, Abby and Stella, from the extent of their financial problem. When his court-appointed client Leo Poplar (Burt Young) develops early-onset dementia, Flaherty sees…
ScreenShots: “Chef”
Even if sitting atop your ultra-hip food truck, swigging a Modelo with a fat bankroll in your pocket while Gary Clarke Jr. serenades an Austin bandido bar isn’t your thing, there’s a lot to like about John Favreau’s “Chef.” An unapologetic celebration of food and family, the movie centers on a nebbish but passionate L.A.…
24/680 Movie Trivia Answer: “Swim Team!”
And we have a winner… sort of! “St. Elsewhere Fan,” (why you folks don’t use your actual names baffles us but what the hey…) swims up to the answer of our local movie trivia question and backs into it. It is, of course, the universally acclaimed 1979 film epic “Swim Team,” a chip off the…
ScreenShots: “Echo In The Canyon”
Yeah, well, we needed some music. Rugged times tend to do that to us. And the very wise “they” who say wise things always say that you go back to what you know – so we went back to the ’60s. Our tour guide for this musical venture back to a seminal time in the…
“Come As You Are” Wednesday
We happen to be great fans of these “Playing for Change” productions – liking their inclusive approach and introduction of players and pickers and instruments from around the world. Here, they take a New Classic and give it an international spin with impressive results. Do you have a favorite picker, player or singer? We do!
ScreenShots: “After Life” – Graphic Trailer
Britain’s Ricky Gervais, everyone’s feared “drunk uncle” who shuffles through family reunions or The Oscars with a pint in hand and an unholstered, whiplash wit, has churned out an engaging one-man show about grief and love and life for Netflix. It ran three seasons and we liked it. If you’ve got the time and haven’t…