Lena Dunham steps further outside her already uncomfortable zone By T.T. Stern-Enzi Rarely do I feel the need to follow-up a review or feature as directly as I will this week. The dialogue on race, which began with “Django Unchained” last week, demands further exploration, although with the gaze turned now to the small screen, […]
Musical documentary “Sugar Man” unearths a real treasure By T.T. Stern-Enzi Rating: PG-13 Grade: A In what should be an iconic image, we see Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, a folk singer who recorded his first single “I’ll Slip Away” back in 1967, strolling along with his guitar case strapped across his back. His long, dark hair […]
Serialized vignettes explore couples on the verge of making babies Grade: B The pitch for “Conception,” a slightly skewed romantic comedy from writer-director Josh Stolberg (screenwriter on “Good Luck Chuck” & “Sorority Row”), probably reminded some of the gatekeepers that heard it of would-be mainstream crowd-pleasers like “Valentine’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve,” the broad […]
The festival continues to promote and celebrate film and community By T.T. Stern-Enzi As the Downtown Dayton LGBT community prepares to present its seventh annual film festival – Sept. 28-30 – with screenings at The Neon, I had one overarching question – with an obvious follow-up – for festival director, Jonathan McNeal. I wondered what […]
Your friendly neighborhood critic previews the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival By T.T. Stern-Enzi Filmmakers take viewers on journeys, rendering the fantastic with startling specificity and introducing audiences to characters beyond the scope of their collective experiences and to faraway places they might never consider for the routine (and typically affordable) family excursion. Eager armchair […]
“Where Do We Go Now?” seeks to resolve an eternal conflict By T.T. Stern-Enzi Rating: PG-13 Grade: A- In a remote Lebanese village (hard to believe that such out of the way places actually exist), Christians and Muslims live together, side by side, working and entertaining themselves, as a community that is as close as […]
First-time screenwriter Zoe Kazan writes and leaps off the page and the screen By T.T. Stern-Enzi Rated: R Grade: A- Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (“Little Miss Sunshine”) tag-team with writer and co-star Zoe Kazan to tell the incredible story of Calvin Weir-Fields (Paul Dano), a young author who finds himself struggling to complete the […]
Writer-director of “Dan in Real Life” makes a wish come true By T.T. Stern-Enzi Rating: PG Grade: B+ Film is all about making us believe in the magic, the fantasies we have to leave behind once we come of age and settle into adulthood. To step into a darkened theater though, if only for a […]
Sentimental buddy comedy reveals our common humanity By T.T. Stern-Enzi Rated: R Grade: B+ Inspired by the true story of Abdel Sellou’s memoir “You Changed My Life,” “The Intouchables” dramatizes the unlikely relationship that develops between Driss (Omar Sy), an African immigrant living in the ghettos of Paris, and Philippe (François Cluzet), an aristocratic quadriplegic […]
With “Take This Waltz”, Sarah Polley focuses again on a woman on the verge Rating: R Grade: B By T.T. Stern-Enzi A slow week at area theaters will send you scurrying to all corners for any fleeting sign of life and when you wish for more than just the promise of an escape from the […]
Co-writer & director Benh Zeitlin’s feature debut refuses to tame the beasts By T.T. Stern-Enzi Rating: PG-13 Grade: A “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” the savage visual poem from debut director Benh Zeitlin (which he co-wrote with playwright Lucy Alibar), takes us on an adventure from its opening frame, yet what makes it so special […]
Marc Webb makes an amazing transition from rom-com to wham-bam action By T.T. Stern-Enzi Audiences may not understand why we need another “Spider-Man” movie. Sam Raimi’s trilogy came to a close in 2007, but it should be noted that “Spider-Man 3” felt like its web shooters were empty. I know, I know, Raimi’s films embraced […]
The Kooky Birth of the Vibrator in Victorian England Buzzes Along By T.T Stern-Enzi Rating: R Grade: C+ I’m sure that at some point during last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, some outlet in the world referred to Tanya Wexler’s Hysteria, which humorously probes into the birth of the vibrator, as “a feel good” story, […]
An ominously viral teaser extended over two hours By T.T. Stern-Enzi Rating: R Grade: B The titan Prometheus defied the gods of Olympus, gave fire to mankind, and suffered for his sin, chained to a rock while an eagle devoured his liver, which would grow back only to be dined upon again the next day. […]
John Madden’s Super-Group Retires to India By T.T. Stern-Enzi Based on Deborah Moggach’s novel These Foolish Things, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel imagines a final adventure for a group of English men and women, one last hurrah where they can get away from the familiar day-to-day they’ve come to know all too well or busy […]
Has Joss Whedon Put Avengers Together for Our times? By T.T. Stern-Enzi Back in 1963, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby probably didn’t have as much trouble creating Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as Hollywood has had in bringing these super duper dudes (and one dark and mysterious dudette) to the screen. There have been two very different […]
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, […]
