By Jim Tortolano Any movie or television show written and/or directed by Aaron Sorkin is bound to be literate, thought-provoking and timely. But his work sometimes gets mired in the left-lane […]
Radicalism on trial in “Trial”
“Mank” a companion to “Kane”
By Jim Tortolano How do you make a great film about the making of a historically great motion picture that hardly anyone under the age of 60 remembers? Well, start with a […]
This “One Night” pucks a punch
By Jim Tortolano These black lives mattered a lot. And how they saw the future for themselves and their people makes the new Amazon Original film “One Night in Miami” a riveting […]
“Little Things”: little originality
By Jim Tortolano OK, so imagine The Equalizer vs. The Joker. Now you have the heart of the new crime film, “The Little Things” starring Denzel Washington, Jared Leto and Rami Malek […]
Leachman was ’09 grand marshal
Cloris Leachman, the Academy Award and Emmy-winning actress with a long career in film and television, has died at the age of 94. According to the Associated Press, she died of natural […]
“News of the World” travels slow
By Jim Tortolano Not all good movies do a good job of riveting your attention. “News of the World” checks all the right boxes. A top-notch performance by Tom Hanks. Check. Appealing little […]
“Ma Rainey” sheds light on us
By Jim Tortolano History and culture are never as simple as some may believe. The nuances of relationships between the sexes, races and regions can be lost in the fog of […]
Gal’s great, “WW84” is just good
By Jim Tortolano One of the most likable female stars in film today is Gal Gadot, but not all her movies are as wonderful as she is. Even when she’s playing Wonder […]
Lost under a “Midnight Sky”
By Jim Tortolano Space flight used to be considered exciting. But, according to some of the prominent films based on astronauts, it’s fairly dull a lot of the time. Like “Ad Astra” […]
“Antebellum” gets lost in the fog
By Jim Tortolano Movies with timely themes don’t always carry the message clearly and with impact. Such is the case with “Antebellum,” a modern horror fable that seeks to explore the […]
