Year: 2020

“Extra Ordinary” (2019 production, 2020 release). Cast: Maeve Higgins, Barry Ward, Will Forte, Claudia O’Doherty, Jamie Beamish, Terri Chandler, Risteard Cooper, Emma Coleman, Mary McEvoy, Jon Cheung, Jed Murray, Aggie Ellis. Directors: Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman. Screenplay: Mike Ahern, Demian Fox, Maeve Higgins and Ena Loughman. Web site. Trailer. At times, it feels like the world around us is shrinking (especially these days). But, if anything, it would be to our benefit in many ways to explore and embrace a broader view, one that expands our horizons and helps us to consider a wider range of possibilities. After all, we might never know what could come from such an effort unless we try, including in areas of our lives that seem fundamentally removed from what we initially set out to do. Such is the case for a cast of colorful characters in the new Irish paranormal comedy, “Extra Ordinary.” Driving instructor Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins) leads a generally stable, albeit somewhat unremarkable, life in a small town in rural Ireland. The jovial, playfully quirky middle-aged wallflower dutifully goes about her work and occasionally spends time with her pregnant sister, Sailor (Terri Chandler), though much of the time she’s on ...

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

A review of “The Father,” as well as movie recommendations for home confinement viewing, are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the web site of The Good Media Network, available by clicking here ...

“The Father” (“Bashtata”) (2019). Cast: Ivan Barnev, Ivan Savov, Margita Gosheva (voice), Tanya Shahova, Hristofor Nedkov, Boyan Doychinov, Nikolay Todorov. Directors: Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov. Screenplay: Kristina Grozeva, Decho Taralezhkov and Petar Valchanov. Web site. Trailer. It can be easy to get stuck. And it can be even easier to allow ourselves to stay stuck. Indeed, in such situations, we can readily convince ourselves that we’re trapped by conditions that can’t be changed, irretrievably ensnared by what cannot be altered. But is that really true? It may be possible to shift our circumstances, but it can take some effort to do so, as a mourning father and son find out in the new Bulgarian dark comedy-drama, “The Father” (“Bashtata”). Losing a parent can be traumatic enough in itself, but, when the circumstances are compounded by additional complexities, the situation can become that much worse. So it is for Pavel (Ivan Barnev), a successful, middle-aged Bulgarian advertising photographer who travels from his home in Sofia to the remote countryside where he grew up to be with his aging eccentric father, Vasil (Ivan Savov), when his mother, Valentina, dies unexpectedly from a minor operation. However, his gesture of familial support and ...

Reviews of “Balloon” and “One Last Deal,” as well as movie recommendations for stay-at-home watching, are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the web site of The Good Media Network, available by clicking here ...

“One Last Deal” (“Tuntematon mestari”) (2018). Cast: Heikki Nousiainen, Pirjo Lonka, Amos Brotherus, Stefan Sauk, Jakob Öhrman, Pertti Sveholm, Kristoffer Möller. Director: Klaus Härö. Screenplay: Anna Heinämaa. Web site. Trailer. When we come into the home stretch of our lives, we hope to settle our accounts, make amends and, one would hope, make a splash while we still can. But that process may prove challenging, especially if we’re loaded down with baggage, have difficulty making changes and come up against unexpected obstacles. Can we persevere under those conditions? That’s the test put to an elderly businessman looking to wind up his affairs in the new Finnish drama, “One Last Deal” (“Tuntematon mestari”). Aging, ailing Helsinki art dealer Olavi Launio (Heikki Nousiainen) is contemplating retirement but with a definite sense of regret. He’s never achieved the success that he had hoped to attain, mostly selling second-rate pieces from the estate sales of deceased widows with less sophisticated tastes. His cluttered, shabby-looking gallery is filled with unsold works, many of which receive only minimal interest from would-be buyers (and then only from those who are looking to bargain the prices down from what Olavi’s asking). What’s more, Olavi’s business practices are sorely ...