Home for the Holidays ranked among film critic Ed McNulty’s favorite holiday movies.
Home for the Holidays (1995)
Chesley Bonestell: A Brush with the Future (2018)
When I was a teen fan of science fiction my favorite artist was Chesley Bonestell whose vast output of space art thrilled thousands of fans of the genre. He was the go-to man for Hollywood’s George Pal who depended on his art and technical expertise for Destination Moon, When Worlds Collide, and War of the …
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Scoop (2024)
Director Philip Martin’s film is the first of two films about Prince Andrew’s debacle on the BBC program Newsnights¸ the Brits’ counterpart to CBS’s 60 Minutes. Released on Netflix on April 2024, it will be followed in September by A Very Royal Scandal (reviewed elsewhere in this issue). Scriptwriters Peter Moffat and Geoff Bussetil base …
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (2019)
As Holocaust stories go, this is very mild, and thus a suitable film for introducing children to the subject. There are no Gestapo round-up of Jews, street beatings, or any trace of barbed wire, not to speak of ovens or mass shootings. Just a family story fortunate enough to have a father who can …
The Bear (2023)
I have reserved the word “great” for just a few films but am not hesitant at using the adjective with Christopher Storer’s comedy-drama series, which deserves its numerous awards—Emmy, Golden Globe. I have seen all three seasons, and not since All in the Family and MASH have, I been so moved while laughing out loud, …
Am I Racist?
I wish I had done my research before going to see director/co-writer Justin Folk’s mockumentary. Then I would not have been so confused at the end, misthinking the film was an expose’ of those profiting from the antiracist movement, rather than the smear that it actually is. This is a film in which the governors …
Good One (2024)
Like so many small independent films, writer-director India Donaldson’s feature-length tale debuted at Sundance this year. It is a simple story of a young girl, on the cusp of adulthood, coming of age during a hike in an upstate New York park. Do not let its slow pace or subtlety lead your attention to wander. Sam …
Miss. Summer Freedom Project – Part 6
This is the sixth and final posting in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of my participation in the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, highlighting Parts 14, 15, & 16 of the Journal I kept during the two weeks I was at Shaw, Mississippi, a small town about 125 miles north of Jackson in the northwestern section …
Alien: Romulus (2024)
Director/co-writer Fede Alvarez’s addition to the Alien space horror series starts out like a science fiction dystopia story, with orphaned Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) and her android “brother” Andy (David Jonsson) working on a hellish mining colony on a planet where it is always dark, owned by the powerful corporation Weyland-Yutani. When Rain fulfills her …
Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024)
Director Carlos Saldanha’s adaptation of the beloved 1955 children’s classic by Crockett Johnson gives us the adult version of the original series about a four-year old and his magical purple crayon who lives inside a book. We see Harold at four just in an opening section, animated by hand in a style much like that …