HollywoodandFine.com Only serious jazz fans remember Joe Albany, a pianist whose bright and energetic attack kept him working until his death in 1988. “Low Down,” based on a memoir by his daughter, Amy, feels hackneyed, despite being a true story. It struggles to be something more than the tale of …
HollywoodandFine.com What is most astonishing, as you watch Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour,” is how calm everyone is. At least at first. The next most astonishing thing? How quietly rational all these people are, particularly considering the volcano of invective that their actions would unleash against them. These people are, really, one …
HollywoodandFine.com What is a laggie? Judging from the substance of Lynn Shelton’s new film, “Laggies,” it’s someone who has fallen behind in life. Not that Shelton or screenwriter Andrea Seigel are ever that explicit about it. Instead, this blithe romantic comedy just jumps right in, introducing Megan (Keira Knightley) and …
HollywoodandFine.com This seems to be the season for movies in the 140-150 minute range, length apparently meant to convey importance. David Ayer’s “Fury” is one of the few that warrants its length (or most of it). Brutal, punishing and exciting – in that order – “Fury” gives you an approximation …
HollywoodandFine.com “The Judge” is, in its way, the kind of old-fashioned potboiler – a courtroom drama – that the studios made regularly when the studios actually thought there was an audience for films about adult concerns. It’s directed by David Dobkin, heretofore a director primarily of comedy (“Wedding Crashers,” “Fred …
HollywoodandFine.com Bill Murray has had the most piquant of film careers, launching himself from “Saturday Night Live” into goofy comedies that eventually gave way to something deeper and more satisfying, appearing in everything from “Zombieland” (as a version of himself) to the films of Wes Anderson to wildly varied recent …
HollywoodandFine.com “Whiplash,” a terrific film by Damien Chazelle, exemplifies all that is wrong with the way movies are released these days. This smart, razor-edged film has been out there, tantalizing critics and viewers, ever since it caused a sensation with its debut at Sundance in January. But it took until …
HollywoodandFine.com It’s the rare journalism movie that gets it right when it comes to depicting the day-to-day on a daily newspaper. And, given the terminal condition of American print, journalism movies themselves are going to become an endangered species – sort of like newspapers. So it’s nice to see a …
HollywoodandFine.com Based on a novel by Chad Kultgen, Jason Reitman’s “Men, Women & Children” is a multi-character film that wants to deliver a message about how our burgeoning electronic connectivity – through phones and computers – has actually distanced us from each other. That’s not a new message; indeed, Henry-Alex …
HollywoodandFine.com There hasn’t been a twisty, best-selling legal thriller whose film version was as anticipated as “Gone Girl” since, I would say, “Presumed Innocent.” (And don’t say “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” because, by the time most Americans were aware of the novel, the entire trilogy had been filmed – …