— 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, that personality would be less […][...]
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 SACD Prize, the film is a skillful execution of flashback story […][...]
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 surgically accurate examination of the toll this […][...]
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 mutant infants have never been handled more deftly […][...]
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 nonstop. Ben Affleck uncorks a great performance as […][...]
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. The film is set on Fireworks Wednesday, the day of celebration […][...]
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 amazing first hand descriptions by the explorers with a surreal story […][...]
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 his failure to make it “over the bar” to […][...]
Review: Eddie the Eagle
— by RON WILKINSON — If this take on Eddie the Eagle (Michael “Eddie” Edwards) is exaggerated to the point of absurdity, the superb performance of Taron Egerton makes it work. This may become the breakout performance for Egerton, showing he can do the touchy-feely role as well as the easier tough guy roles. Egerton […][...]
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 now filming
Marvel Studios has begun principal photography at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta on Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” which is slated to hit U.S. theaters on May 5, 2017. The production will shoot at Atlanta’s Pinewood Studios. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is written and directed by James Gunn. The film marks the […][...]