On the cusp of the 1950s, sharing a ship with countless other European immigrants en route to the brighter pastures of Ellis Island, Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) falls ill. Whether it’s from food poisoning or seasickness, the result is the same: a peaked scramble down dank corridors, seeking the relief of a random janitor’s bucket with which to dispense of the material flowing, … [Read more...]
‘Men, Women and Children’ too preachy to deserve any likes
Earlier this year in this publication, I forgave Jason Reitman for Labor Day, because every great director delivers a clunker now and then. But after viewing his latest, Men, Women and Children, it seems evident that his Midas touch has turned to lead. Unlike Labor Day, however, Men, Women and Children is a movie of hulking ambition, an attempt to comprehend the 21st-century … [Read more...]
Bruegel film beautiful, but too bloodless at the core
Film adaptations of plays, books and even video games are as common as rain in Seattle, but a movie adaptation of a painting? That’s an undertaking so ambitious – and probably presumptuous – that it’s hard to fathom it. Polish director Lech Majewski is up to the task in The Mill and the Cross, attempting to delve beyond the canvas of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s famous The Way to … [Read more...]
Vickrey’s world too fragile for the real one
Whimsy and wonder dominate in the world that Robert Vickrey creates in his painting. On first glance, there’s not much that is dark or foreboding. In fact, within moments of entering the exhibit, Robert Vickrey: The Magic of Realism, now on view at the Boca Raton Museum of Art until June 19, one feels, well, comforted. And that’s because the symbolic images are reassuringly … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: Romance and its aftermath, on three stages
A former musician turned playwright, Michael Hollinger is clearly fascinated with the music of words. Such an interest was evident in his earlier play, Opus, about the search for harmony among the members of a string quartet. A similar verbal playfulness is present in his latest work, Ghost-Writer, a look at the creative process of a fastidious novelist, who dictates his prose … [Read more...]
Too late, ‘Unknown’ leaves thriller re-treads in search of meaning
As far as studio actioners go, Unknown has its share of well-crafted set-pieces and steely suspense, but well-versed viewers of modern thrillers won’t help but feel an almost immediate sense of déjà vu. The most obvious reference point is Taken, whose star, Liam Neeson, Unknown shares, and whose color palette of dark blues and antiseptic off-whites are mimicked here by … [Read more...]
This ‘Valentine’ is too sweet even for the day
Who wouldn’t want to live in the antiseptic fantasyland of Garry Marshall’s Valentine’s Day? Ostensibly set in Los Angeles on Valentine’s Day, it’s a world in which women wake up in full makeup, irate motorists yell obscenities like “heck,” airport guards shrug off security breaches if the breacher is an attractive young romantic, and the meteorologists tap-dance the weather … [Read more...]