Richard Linklater and crew wander not-so-happily into ever after By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: [l to r] Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy take the long road of relationships in “Before Midnight”; Rating: R Grade: A- American Jesse (Ethan Hawke) was 23 years old back in 1994, when he crossed paths with the Parisian Celine (Julie Delpy) on […]
New film opens at Neon next weekend By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Pierce Brosnan [far left] and Trine Dyrholm [second from right] look for new beginnings in “Love is All You Need”; Rated: R Grade: B+ Danish director Susanne Bier seems to be incrementally easing off the dramatic gas with each new release. She began attracting attention […]
A powerful new documentary explores the spiritual journeys of gay Adventists By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Ohio residents Sherri and Jill with their daughters in “Seventh-Gay Adventists” Our primary conception of documentaries comes rooted in the notion that they are issue-based films told from one perspective with all of the supporting facts and figures to make […]
A father and son do what they must to play to their ‘all-American’ roles By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Zac Efron [left] and Dennis Quaid [right] struggle with changing roles in ‘At Any Price’; Rating: R Grade: C- What do we mean today when we refer to “all-American” ideals? What does it mean to be “all-American” […]
Shane Carruth’s latest film tests expectations By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Director Shane Carruth and Amy Seimetz in “Upstream Color”; Rating: Not Rated Grade: A At this year’s San Francisco Film Festival, Steven Soderbergh delivered an intriguing address on the state of the film industry. What made it so fascinating may, in part, have been the timing. […]
The somewhat-true story of an aboriginal girl group in the 1960s By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: An Aboriginal girl group seeks stardom during the late ’60s in “The Sapphires” Rating: PG-13 Grade: B+ There’s a crazy – yet delicious – alchemy to concocting a winning film premise. It’s like “X” meets “Y,” maybe with a touch of […]
Is the director’s new release a career reboot? By T.T. Stern-Enzi photo: [l to r] Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie and Mark Wahlberg star in Michael Bay’s “Pain & Gain” “Pain & Gain” won the weekend box office race, earning the pole position with a smidge less than $20 million dollars. Not exactly a blistering opening weekend […]
Jeff Nichols slings Matthew McConaughey at us and we can’t get enough of him By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland and Matthew McConaughey on the run in “Mud”; Rating: PG-13 Grade: B+ Every critic out there has been talking about the recent transformation of Matthew McConaughey; we simply can’t stop going on about the […]
But what does that teach us about our collective past our current selves? By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford star in the Jackie Robinson biopic, “42” Prior to attending the recent press screening of writer-director Brian Helgeland’s sports biopic, I experienced a low-level sense of dread, the same sensation that arises anytime there’s […]
The First Annual Reel Stuff Film Festival of Aviation By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: The new two-projector system at the Air Force Museum Theater offers crisp 4K images The best film festivals offer attendees an experience beyond merely paying to watch a film on a big screen in a packed house. Films can transport us to other […]
Local filmmaker Henrique Couto is ready to shoot his own close-up By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: “Babysitter Massacre” filmaker Henrique Couto [second from left] with his cast; photo credit: Alicia Lozier During a recent multiple screening day, I had the chance to catch the new Sam Raimi-produced “Evil Dead” followed by a first look at the latest […]
Assessing the state of Tyler Perry’s filmmaking By T. T. Stern-Enzi Photo: [l to] Kim Kardashian, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Vanessa Williams and Robbie Jones in “Tyler Perry’s Temptation” Rating: PG-13 Grade: D Tyler Perry has become a brand, with his name affixed to the titles of his releases and a loyal following, but he has been constantly […]
Oscar-nominated documentary interviews former heads of Israel’s Shin Bet By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Director Dror Moreh looks at Israeli security in “The Gatekeepers” Rating: PG-13 Grade: A The commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War has re-introduced heated debate over the Bush Administration’s presentation of clearly false information regarding Iraq’s weapons […]
Director Chan-wook Park’s sinister English language debut translates well By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: [l to r] Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman and Matthew Goode star in “Stoker” Rating: R Grade: A In dreamy bit of voiceover narration at the start, India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) tells us, “we are not responsible for what we have come to be,” and […]
A masterful shortcut through a horrible travesty By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: [l to r] Henry Rollins and co-writer/director Amy Berg seek justice in “West of Memphis”; Rating: R Grade: A A monumental miscarriage of justice in the early 1990s leads to three young men – Damien Wayne Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. – being […]
Can a second “Exorcism” tame this demonic breakout? By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: David Jensen [left] and Ashley Bell [right] star in “The Last Exorcism Part 2” There’s a great, not-so-obvious hook in “The Last Exorcism 2,” which is the sequel to the successful 2010 found footage creeper feature about an evangelical exorcist named Cotton Marcus (Patrick […]
Celtic Woman at Clark State gala The four women of Celtic Woman (L-R) Tara McNeill, Mairead Carlin, Éabha McMahon, and […]
Dare to deny the passage of time at the Mathile Theatre (L-R) Jonathan (Bobby Mitchum) seeks help through his first […]
Getting your “pot card” In addition to federal and state law, local ordinances may limit growers, dispensaries, and individuals. By […]
Ambiguity and contradictions still plague marijuana laws Despite the new law going into effect, much remains to be done for […]
Evil Eye Gypsy brings psychedelic rock to South Park Tavern Evil Eye Gypsy (L-R) Cat Shift, Sherree Emmons, Aaron Snyder, […]
