A leading resource for faith-and-film reviews and study guides
Director/star Justin Baldoni’s adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel starts as a passionately romantic tale that turns into a dark cautionary tale. It suggests that even though we love someone there is a line that when crossed we dare not try to cross back over, for safety-sake. Before the front credits we see Lily Bloom …
Written and directed by Joseph Schuman and Austin Stark, this tale of class warfare takes place in a time that was as deadly as our recent Covid Pandemic, the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Jay Horton (Billy Magnussen) and his family—wife Julie ( Sarah Gadon) and two young children, are sheltered from the plague by …
Set in the 1600s when Poruguese Catholics have been trading with and have converted a few Japanese, this second adaptation of James Clavell’s historical novel, created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks is so msemerizing that it demands binge watching. Thus far you can watch on Hulu the ten sessions already produced, with two more seasons promised. The …
I kept thinking of the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyder as I watched writer/director M. Night Shyamalan’s suspenseful film unfold. The two sides of actor Josh Hartnett are as disparate as those of actor Spencer Tracey’s character in the 1941 version of Robert Louise Stevenson’s classic novel. The film is set in a huge …
Director Thomas Napper’s debut feature film could serve as a feminist tract celebrating the heritage of a strong woman in early 19th century France. One need not be a connoisseur of the bubbly drink—as an occasional drinker of wine and champagne I was barely aware of Cliquot—to appreciate this woman, of which we read the …
Director Ty West’s hard-R film is only for fans of the horror genre, several of its gory scnes being very graphic. It is part of a trilogy—X, created in 2022, and Pearl, also in that year. I have not sen the others, although I know that all deal with some aspect of filmmaking and the …
I love interspecies films such as Fly Away, and Brazilian director David Schurmann’s film is a delightful addition to the genre. Based on a true story, it celebrates how kindness can result in a friendship that spans hundreds of miles of ocean. Joao Perei de Souza (Jean Reno) and wife Maria (Adriana Barraza) are a fisher family …
Director Greg Kwedar’s film introduces us to the innovative program founded at New York’s Sing Sing Correctional Facility located in Ossining,NY– the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). The script was inspired by John H. Richardson’s 2005 article in Esquire Magazine “The Sing Sing Follies” about a small group ofincarcerated men who since 1996 have been …
Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur’s film is for those who love a star-crossed lover’s story. Interestingly enough, it unfolds not in the director’s native Iceland but in London and Hiroshima. We follow this story in two time levels across the decades, starting with a present day old man and flashing back to the end of the …
Director Lee Isaac Chung’s disaster film is about as thrilling as it can get, far more entertaining than a screen full of wisecracking Marvel superheroes. Its love story is predictable, though be forewarned to watch closely the last scene where it diverges from the usual romantic pattern. Though following in the path of Jan de …