Officially it’s the Academy Award of Merit. But we all know it as “Oscar,” though the origin of that name has long been debated and disputed. One thing that can’t be argued is that we love Oscar! Maybe not everyone, but ditching the stereotypes, the truth is that a big segment of the LGBT community…
Steven Soderbergh has announced that Side Effects will be his last Hollywood film. At 50, he’s done; he’s said that he’s going to turn to painting and, maybe, directing television. But after directing Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Out of Sight, The Limey, Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Oceans 11, Che, The Informant, and Magic Mike, I would…
A recent discussion of San Diego Old Globe’s wonderful productions brought to mind my college appearance in Hamlet. Unfortunately the lead was denied me, as the director was entranced by the blond 6 foot 3 inch sophomore, Thor Gustafsen. He with the body of Adonis and the brain of a muffin. Thor’s inability to memorize…
dvr this Turner Classic Movies, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2:30 a.m. Alan Parker’s searing, gritty, and brilliant musical about New York’s School of the Arts is everything Glee is not: believable, moving and full of original songs. Starring Irene Cara as the ambitious singing and dancing Coco; Debbie Allen as the school’s charismatic dance teacher and…
dvd of the week Stephen Chbosky adapted his own novel for the screen and made a movie even more acclaimed and beloved than his book, which is a tall order. In Pittsburgh in the 1980s, Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a depressive outcast who befriends and is befriended by his high school’s one gay student Patrick…
Last week we started a series on soul care where we talked about working out physically to care for our bodies and keep them in shape and how we need to give the same attention to our souls. And while most of us recognize we have a spiritual component we refer to as a soul,…
I used to love to write bad reviews. Back in the late 90s, when I was lucky enough to review movies for Newsweek.com, I was actually only lucky to get the stuff none of the real critics would bother with: crappy teen comedies, really weird foreign films, and second and third-rate action movies. Every week…
dvd of the week I was one of the very few people who loathed Flight, the film about a high functioning but still very messy alcoholic airline pilot (Denzel Washington) whose impressive skills saves most of his passengers during a harrowing plane crash, but whose addiction enables him to be a convenient fall guy for…
dvd of the week The second animated film by Tim Burton to be nominated for an Oscar, Frankenweenie has more flashes of brilliance in it than anything he has done in more than a decade. It is the story of a strange, nerdy boy – both a budding filmmaker and a genius scientist – who…
Flight lesson No. 1 Kim: “Push the stick forward and the houses get bigger. Pull the stick back and the houses get smaller. That’s all there is to flying”, or so I’ve heard. I was about to find out during my first flight. I was a little nervous and had to remind myself that I’ve…
