— by RON WILKINSON — Most people identify jazz with the east coast, the south or maybe the mid-west. In his early career, Chet Baker became the icon of the west coast “Cool School” of jazz, bringing a multi-talented, if checkered, personality to that jazz scene. As his life unfolded,[...]
Archive for March, 2016
Review: My Golden Days
— by RON WILKINSON — Writer/director Arnaud Desplechin (co-written with Julie Peyr) has developed quite a picture of the tempestuous youth of Paul Dedaulus (Mathieu Amalric). Screened as part of the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the SAC[...]
Review: Eye in the Sky
— by RON WILKINSON — Helen Mirren stars in “Eye in the Sky,” director Gavin Hood’s examination of the people who fight wars and the toll the fight takes on them. Appearing to be a war thriller featuring high tech drone aircraft, Guy Hibbert’s screenplay is actually a surg[...]
Review: Baskin
— by RON WILKINSON — Writer/director Can Evrenol’s narrative feature debut is a force to be reckoned with. While much of the world has moved on to more sanitized, socially acceptable horror, Evrenol goes back to the basics. Eye gouging, jugular vein blood squirting, zombie half born mu[...]
Review: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
— by RON WILKINSON — Zack Snyder roars back with a superhero brawl that combines a blasting Wagnerian soundtrack with World Wrestling Federation slap downs. Significant plot? Do not count on it. The philosophical underpinnings of this match made in Hollywood are murky, but the action is [...]
Review: Fireworks Wednesday
— by RON WILKINSON — Asghar Farhadi’s “Fireworks Wednesday” features several kinds of fireworks converging on the naïve young bride Rouhi. Taraneh Alidoosti reunites with Farhadi after her successful work in “About Elly” to play the very young, and very much in love, Rouhi. Th[...]
Review: Embrace of the Serpent
— by RON WILKINSON — “Embrace of the Serpent,” writer/director Ciro Guerra’s seething portrait of the abasement of a people and an environment, is not to be missed. Based on the written diaries of explorers Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes, the film combines[...]
Review: The Finest Hours
— by RON WILKINSON — In “The Finest Hours,” Chris Pine does a fantastic job playing the sheepish, but inwardly courageous, Coast Guard Bosun’s Mate Bernard “Bernie” Webber, who is stationed in Chatham, Mass., on Cape Cod. Bernie is a good man, but is haunted by [...]