Feature Films
MR. HOLMES
We should all enjoy our golden years as well as Ian McKellen. Mr. Holmes provides another rich role for Sir Ian, playing a 93-years-old Sherlock Holmes (McKellen is but 76). Holmes is living in quiet retirement in a Sussex farmhouse, trying to recall the details of his final case, so he can present his version to the public. His mind and spirit enjoy a youthful infusion in the form of his housekeeper's inquisitive young son.
TANGERINE
It's the day before Christmas in West Hollywood, where Sin-Dee Rella and and Alexandra, two transgender sex workers, roam their vibrant Los Angeles neighborhood pursuing sometimes common agendas. Sin-Dee Rella is fresh out of jail and scorching lots of earth in her attempt to find the woman with whom her man has taken up. While trying to keep Sin-Dee out of trouble, Alexandra plans for a singing gig at a local club. One of the year's best-reviewed films, Sean Baker's Tangerine is bursting with compassion, humanity, laughter and life.
ROAR
They just don't make 'em like this any more. And with good reason. Roar might be among the most insane films ever made. How insane? The film's Wikipedia page has a long paragraph devoted just to the injuries sustained during the very troubled 11-year production, which include a young Melanie Griffith receiving a love swipe to her face that resulted 50 stitches and the feared loss of one eye. A man is living contentedly with his wild animals - a couple of elephants and over 100 wild cats - in Africa. Of course, contentment is a relative thing. For Hank (writer, director and remarkably reckless father and husband Noel Marshall), contentment involves frequently being chased,tackled and mauled by his big cats. When his family (Marshall's actual family! including wife Tippi Hedren) arrives at his compound for a visit, they have no idea what they've gotten themselves into. There's real tension as the terrified family desperately seeks shelter in the house as animals run amok in a manner that perhaps no film has ever captured. Oh, the ridiculous dialog and stilted acting! Oh, the humanity! Oh, the insanity! Roar!
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| We would like to say that no one was hurt during the filming of Roar, but that just wouldn't be true at all. |
Also new: Another adapation (as with The Fault in our Stars) of a John Green young adult novel: PAPER TOWNS. Guy Ritchie gives us a film version the popular 1960s television series in THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., Based on the notorious 1971 experiment at Stanford University, THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT is a well-reviewed and thought-provoking thriller. Tycoon Ben Kingsley tries to cheat death but returns to life in the form of Ryan Reynolds. A fate worse than death? Decide for yourself after you've seen SELF/LESS, And, well...he did promise he would be back. The former governor of California returns to the franchise that helped make him a movie star in TERMINATOR GENISYS,
Series
A top-notch cast is only one of the reasons to watch this 2012 British miniseries, based on William Boyd's espionage novel. Greats like Michael Gambon and Charlotte Rampling are present, as well as talented up-and-comers like Hayley Atwell and Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary, to you Downton Abbey fans)
Some measure of consolation for forlorn Breaking Bad fans arrives in the form of Better Call Saul, a combination prequel and spinoff from the enormously popular AMC series. Bob Odenkirk stars as decidedly unconventional lawyer Jimmy McGill.
Taking its title from a looked down upon form of 19th century serial British fiction, this Showtime series populates it's lurid world with familiar characters (Dorian Gray, Mina Harker and Abraham Van Helsing from Dracula) from fiction of that period.
More pure escapism arrives in the form of the second season of Black Sails. Capatain Flint and his young crew are back and fighting for their lives on New Providence Island and the high seas. By most accounts, season two has found the series delivering better episodes than during its debut season. Argh!
The story of American-born Harry Gordon Selfridge and the London department store he founded continues in season three of this Masterpiece/PBS series. Jeremy Piven heads a strong cast as the flamboyant Selfridge, who spent 25 years at Chicago's Marshall Field's (remember Marshall Field's?) before establishing one of London's great retail institutions in the first decade of the 20th century.
Documentary/Nonfiction
BEST OF ENEMIES
The nine televised debates between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal during the 1968 political conventions on the struggling ABC network may have been the forerunner of today's mind-numbing throwdowns on cable news networks. A dubious legacy perhaps, but Buckley and Vidal carried on their debates with real venom and a remarkably high level of exchange, verbal if not intellectual. This documentary by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville shows two heavyweights going at it in a manner almost unimaginable by the present-day standards of televised debate.
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