New ‘love story’ update gambles by doubling down on the terminal illness angle By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Ansel Elgort as Gus and Shailene Woodley as Hazel in “The Fault in Our Stars”; Rating: PG-13, Grade: B- “The Fault in Our Stars” by young adult fiction author and Indianapolis, Ind. native John Green gets adapted here […]
Multi-hyphenate Jon Favreau flees the Hollywood test kitchen By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Emjay Anthony, Jon Favreau and Sofia Vergara in “Chef”; Rating: R, Grade: A It doesn’t take long for a talented upstart to settle into a comfortable groove, right? Not many of us know about this from experience, but the stories abound across disciplines. […]
The story of a neighborhood where everybody knows more than your name By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: John Turturro as “Bird” and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Mickey in “God’s Pocket”; Rating: R, Grade: B+ The first “read” of “God’s Pocket,” the feature-film directing debut of actor John Slattery (best known for his Emmy-nominated work on the television […]
How his short-film efforts offer insight into his new feature film By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Scarlett Johansson as Laura in “Under the Skin”; Rating: R, Grade: B There are a number of feature film directors who got their starts working on commercials and music videos. Jonathan Glazer, one such practitioner of the craft, exhibits a far […]
The story behind the greatest film never made By T.T. Stern-Enzi photo: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s, unscussessful attempt at adapting the science fiction novel, “Dune” is the focus of Director Frank Pavich’s The old adage goes that the greatest journeys begin with that single first step, but what about the epic odyssey you and a band of merry […]
A soulful performance by Irrfan Khan serves as the key ingredient in this marvelous dish By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Nimrat Kaur as Ila in “The Lunchbox”; Rating: PG-13, Grade: A Cases of mistaken identity can certainly advance a plot, but rarely do these artificially imposed manipulative elements create an organic or believable situation that approximates the […]
Ivan Reitman’s sports drama almost becomes a big joke By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Kevin Costner as Sonny Weaver, Jr. in “Draft Day”; Rating: PG-13, Grade: D+ Talk about Fantasy Football. “Draft Day,” the new movie from director Ivan Reitman – from the comedic heights of “Ghostbusters” to the rom-com depths of “No Strings Attached” – seems […]
The Lars von Trier opus on sex and love plays in and out of theaters By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: [l to r] Stacy Martin as Young Joe, Udo Kier as the waiter and Shia LaBeouf as Jerôme in “Nymphomaniac;” Rating: R, Grade: B+ I should acknowledge I’m a fan of the transgressive curiosity of Danish director Lars […]
Oscar-nominated documentary explores the debate between genius and technique By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: Penn Jillette and Tim Jenison in “Tim’s Vermeer”; Rating: PG-13, Grade: A Genius, we want to believe, is somehow conferred from on high. It is the product of unfathomable inspiration, unparalleled talent, a savant-like ability that confounds far less beautiful minds. What genius […]
Two rising stars get played by the studio system game By T.T. Stern-Enzi Photo: [l to r] Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan and Zac Effron stumble through “That Awkward Moment” ; Rating: R Grade: D Romantic comedy screenwriters want us to believe love is full of cute challenges, inconsequential moments blown out of proportion, awaiting simple, […]
Totally secure knot …not In a local home a garage door was broken into. This garage door was perfectly secured […]
Which right write is right? In Charlottesville, what isn’t the debate? By Sarah Sidlow Overwhelmed by the Charlottesville news cycle […]
Slash and dash Taking the overused and overdone tactic of the “dine and dash” to a whole new level… a […]
On the run from a BB gun At a local historical park just a few days ago, a large truck was […]
Steal anything At a local auto-parts store, a car radio was shoplifted. The thief suspiciously perused through the aisles and […]
