Year: 2023

Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, beginning Tuesday May 23, available by clicking here. You can also catch it later on demand on Spreaker, Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser and Jiosaavn ...

Reviews of “Viking,” “Slava Ukraini” and “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” along with a podcast preview, are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the web site of The Good Media Network, available by clicking here ...

“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” (2023). Cast: Interviews/Contemporary Footage: Michael J. Fox, Tracy Pollan, Annabelle Fox, Aquinnah Fox, Sam Fox, Schuyler Fox, Siobhan Murphy. Re-creations: Danny Irizarry, Hannah Galway, Kai Kreinman, Miles Meacham, Sherry Klassen, Darren Zimmer. Archive Footage: Barbara Walters, Phil Donahue, Katie Couric, Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, Muhammad Ali, Meredith Baxter, Justine Bateman, Gary David Goldberg, Brandon Tartikoff, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Eric Stoltz, Thomas F. Wilson, Sean Penn, Barry Bostwick, Richard Kind, Jay Leno, Johnny Carson, Joan Rivers. Director: Davis Guggenheim. Source Material: Michael J. Fox. Web site. Trailer. As a society that worships those in the celebrity spotlight, we tend to place these icons on pedestals, imbuing them with almost superhuman attributes. We often look on them as leading seemingly perfect lives. We may even wonder, “What problems could they possibly have?” But, given their seemingly larger-than-life accomplishments, we frequently lose sight of the fact that these luminaries are people just like the rest of us, subject to the same issues and challenges that we all face. We forget that they must ultimately respond to these matters just as we do. And, like us, they might approach them in some of the same ways as ...

“Fathers and Mothers” (“Fædre og mødre”) (2022). Cast: Jacob Lohmann, Katrine Greis-Rosenthal, Ida Skelbæk-Knudsen, Victor Madsen, Rasmus Bjerg, Lise Baastrup, Lars Brygmann, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Line Kruse, Carsten Bjørnlund, Amanda Collin, Martin Greis-Rosenthal, Merete Mærkedahl, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Mikhael Birkkjær. Director: Paprika Steen. Screenplay: Jakob Weis. Web site. Trailer. Wanting the best for one’s children is a natural tendency for many parents. But how far is one willing to go to see this ambition realized? For some, this takes the form of supportive but restrained encouragement, a healthy approach, to be sure. But what happens when the push for success becomes an obsession, one driven by ever-escalating expectations that put undue pressure on the kids? Add to that the competitive one-upmanship that can emerge in an environment where parents and/or children are pitted against one another to come out on top as the alphas of the pack, and you’ve taken things to an entirely new level. And, if all that weren’t stressful enough, imagine what it might be like for everyone to compete to see who is the most politically correct of the bunch, steering matters to absurd degrees of pseudointellectual perfection. If you can picture that, you’ve got a ...

“Slava Ukraini” (“Glory to Ukraine”) (2023). Cast: Bernard-Henri Lévy. Director: Bernard-Henri Lévy. Screenplay: Bernard-Henri Lévy. Web site. Trailer. When a group takes on a formidable task, it helps to have a sense of solidarity in tackling it. It’s also beneficial to have a suitable attitude toward it, one full of optimism and hope. And, of course, a healthy dose of commitment can cement the effort, taking events in the desired direction. Achieving those results may not be easy and there may be disappointments or even tragedies along the way. But success tends to multiply itself, an outcome that leads to uplifting, inspiring results, an approach that has given new life to the people of Ukraine in their conflict against aggressor Russians, a development chronicled in the compelling new firsthand, on-the-ground documentary, “Slava Ukraini” (“Glory to Ukraine”). Most media coverage about the war in Ukraine – where most of us get our news about the combat – comes down to a recitation of facts and figures, with the biggest and most dramatic stories receiving virtually all of the attention. But how does the war impact the nation’s citizens at the personal level? What’s more, we hear so much about the unity ...

Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, beginning Tuesday May 9, available by clicking here. You can also catch it later on demand on Spreaker, Spotify, Apple, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser and Jiosaavn ...