Year: 2018

Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, Wednesday, November 7, at 12:45 pm ET, available by clicking here. And, if you don’t hear it live, catch it later on demand!  ...

“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (2018). Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant, Jane Curtin, Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone, Christian Navarro, Stephen Spinella, Gregory Korostishevsky, Anna Deavere Smith, Pun Bandu, Erik LaRay Harvey, Brandon Scott Jones, Marc Evan Jackson, Sandy Rosenberg, Towne the cat. Director: Marielle Heller. Screenplay: Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty. Book: Lee Israel, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Web site. Trailer. Creativity is a wonderful thing. It gives us great satisfaction, and it can lead to the production of marvelous conceptions made manifest. It offers boundless opportunities for exploration and expression, adding constantly to the richness of human experience. But is it always benevolent and uplifting, or can it be contorted into questionable forms that get out of hand? That’s a fine line to traverse, but sometimes we may step over it and find ourselves on the wrong side of the creative process. Such an experience befell a struggling author, as depicted in the intriguing new biopic, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” In 1991, writer Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy) was going through hard times. The talented author and journalist, a biography specialist who managed to land one of her titles on The New York Times best seller list, ...

Now on Spotify! Check out my latest Movies with Meaning segment on The Good Media Network’s FrankieSense & More show. Follow us on Spotify! ...

“Beautiful Boy” (2018). Cast: Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan, Kaitlyn Dever, Timothy Hutton, Oakley Bull, Christian Convery, Andre Royo, Stefanie Scott, Kue Lawrence, Zachary Rifkin, Jack Dylan Grazer. Director: Felix Van Groeningen. Screenplay: Luke Davies and Felix Van Groeningen. Books: David Sheff, Beautiful Boy, and Nic Sheff, Tweak. Web site. Trailer. How far should parents go in looking after their children? Some would say that there are no limits on this question, that mothers and fathers should be willing to do whatever it takes to attend to their kids. But is that really true? And what happens when those children are on the verge of becoming adults themselves – do the same rules apply as when they’re youngsters, especially if they become embroiled in challenges seemingly of their own making? However, no matter what happens, they’re still one’s kids, and there’s a natural tendency toward being protective that automatically kicks in. Those are among some of the tough questions addressed in the new, fact-based family drama, “Beautiful Boy.” There’s virtually nothing that successful free-lance writer David Sheff (Steve Carell) won’t do for his kids, especially his first-born son, Nic (Timothée Chalamet). As the product of David’s first ...

“The Old Man & the Gun” (2018). Cast: Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, Tom Waits, Tika Sumpter, Ari Elizabeth Johnson, Teagan Johnson, Gene Jones, John David Washington, Elisabeth Moss, Keith Carradine, Robert Longstreet. Director: David Lowery. Screenplay: David Lowery. Story Source: David Grann, “The Old Man and the Gun,” New Yorker magazine. Web site. Trailer. What gives us personal satisfaction? That’s something many of us chase down throughout our lives, and some of us are fortunate enough to find it. But is this a quest we should pursue at any cost, especially if the goals are dubious? That’s a question posed in the new, fact-based biopic, “The Old Man & the Gun.” Septuagenarian Forrest Tucker (not the actor) (Robert Redford) desperately wants to stay young, so much so that he actively looks for ways to help himself hold on to that feeling. But, instead of doing things like jogging, driving sports cars or going to singles bars – activities typical of aging men trying to preserve their youth in the 1970s – he’s found a pursuit uniquely his own: he robs banks. Strange as that may sound, though, it’s common practice for him, given that he’s been ...

Join host Frankie Picasso and me for a full hour of Movies with Meaning on the next edition of The Good Media Network’s Frankiesense & More broadcast on a special day and time, Thursday, October 25, at 12 pm ET. We’ll discuss a number of new movie releases, as well as highlights of the recently completed Chicago International Film Festival. For the video version, tune in on Facebook Live by clicking here. And, for the audio only podcast edition, check out The Good Media Network’s home page by clicking here. Join us for some fun movie chat! ...