Year: 2018

“Generation Wealth” (2018). Cast: Florian Homm, Tiffany Masters, Eden Wood, Jaqueline Siegel, Cathy Grant, Lauren Greenfield, Limo Bob. Director: Lauren Greenfield. Screenplay: Lauren Greenfield. Web site. Trailer. In your opinion, what has value? Is it your possessions? Your financial holdings? Your social standing? Your physique? How much sex you have? Or is it something less tangible but more meaningful, such as the love of your life, your family, your friends or your career satisfaction? This question has plagued many of us in recent years, yet rarely are telling answers readily forthcoming. This lack of clarity has caused considerable confusion, often prompting us to seek refuge in surrogate solutions that we hope will provide us answers but that frequently come up short. And it’s a phenomenon that has seemingly spread across the culture – in fact, the globe – like a virus, one that’s growing ever more virulent, a subject explored in the disquieting new documentary, “Generation Wealth.” Photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield has spent much of her career documenting the lives of the affluent, especially their excesses of opulence, something that she has noticed has grown more blatant, if not self-servingly perverse, over the years. In that time, she has ...

“Tom of Finland” (2017). Cast: Pekka Strang, Seumas F. Sargent, Lauri Tikanen, Taisto Oksanen, Jessica Grabowsky, Niklas Hogner, Jakob Oftebro, Hayman Maria Buttinger, Manfred Böll, Fabian Puregger. Director: Dome Karukoski. Screenplay: Aleksi Bardy. Story/dialogue: Aleksi Bardy, Dome Karukoski, Mark Alton Brown, Noam Andrews, Kauko Röyhkä, Mia Yiönen and Susana Luoto. Web site. Trailer. Regrettably, it’s often all too easy to subvert the emergence of our true selves. Whether we doubt our ability to bring it into being, fear the ramifications involved in its expression or allow ourselves to be intimidated into submission, we may find it easier to roll over and let things slide than to act upon our genuine impulses. But where is the satisfaction in that? Can we live with the regrets that are likely to arise late in life when we realize the opportunity we’ve squandered? And, perhaps above all, can we be truly happy with ourselves for acquiescing to such a timid course? Fortunately, we have the choice to pursue a different path, one that is a faithful reflection of our inner being, no matter how seemingly trying the circumstances. Sometimes all we need is a little inspiration to steer us in the right direction for ...

“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” (2018). Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Jack Black, Rooney Mara, Carrie Brownstein, Tony Greenhand, Beth Ditto, Mark Webber, Ronnie Adrian, Kim Gordon, Udo Kier. Director: Gus Van Sant. Screenplay: Gus Van Sant. Story: John Callahan, Gus Van Sant, Jack Gibson and William Andrew Eatman. Book: John Callahan, Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot. Web site. Trailer. We’ve all heard about the metaphorical notion of making lemonade when life unexpectedly hands us those tart little yellow orbs. The process is seldom easy, either, particularly when we’re deluged with vast quantities of lemons or when their juices are especially sour. But it’s indeed possible to turn things around, provided we apply ourselves to see that life can still have meaning when everything appears potentially lost. So it was for a recovering alcoholic paraplegic seeking to pick up the pieces of his life in the new fact-based biopic, “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot.” For years, John Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix) lived to drink. He held down various mundane jobs to acquire the cash he needed for his frequent trips to the liquor store. And, by night, he routinely sought out invitations ...

“Eighth Grade” (2018). Cast: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghadri, Fred Hechinger, Imani Lewis, Luke Prael, Catherine Oliviere, Nora Mullins, Missy Yager, Greg Crowe, Natalie Carter. Director: Bo Burnham. Screenplay: Bo Burnham. Web site. Trailer. Try to think of a time in your life when you felt like you were perpetually confused. For some of us, that might come at almost any age. But, for those lacking the benefit of life experience, it most likely occurred at a time when we were still finding our way in the world – not when we were so young that we didn’t consciously think about such things but at a slightly later stage in our development when we earnestly began trying to understand our place in the realm of existence. If most of us were to apply that standard, that incessantly awkward, unceasingly confounding time probably came in our early teens, a time when we were no longer children but not quite adults, a time aptly depicted in writer-director Bo Burnham’s debut feature, the delightful and edgy new comedy-drama, “Eighth Grade.” Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) walks through life lost. The 13-year-old is on the verge of completing middle school ...

Reviews of “Eighth Grade” and “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,” as well as a magazine article preview, are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the web site of The Good Media Network, available by clicking here ...

I’m thrilled to announce the publication of my new magazine article, “Environmental Activism and the Pulpit Join forces on the Big Screen,” found in the latest issue of Up Words magazine. Find out how to access the entire issue at the publication’s Facebook page by clicking here.    ...