Year: 2023

“Monica” (2022 production, 2023 release). Cast: Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Browning, Joshua Close, Adriana Barraza, Graham Caldwell, Ruby Fraser, Brennan Pittman, Leland Pittman, Chelo Acosta-Conley, Bobby Easley. Director: Andrea Pallaoro. Screenplay: Andrea Pallaoro and Orlando Tirado. Web site. Trailer. When it comes to the notions of acceptance and forgiveness, it’s always important to remember that they’re beliefs that come with another inherent quality – the power of choice. Indeed, in both cases, we’re free to choose to either embrace or ignore these virtues, regardless of what others may think of us or how the perspectives we adopt might make us look. At the same time, though, we must also consider the consequences that come with either of these choices, some of which we find difficult to live with, especially if there’s no chance of us being able to go back and make amends for them later. Such are the thorny questions that the members of a family in crisis must examine for themselves in the new domestic drama, “Monica.” When an adolescent expresses his belief that he would like to undergo the transition as a transgender female, his family is appalled, kicking him out of the house. His mother, ...

Join yours truly and show host Frankie Picasso for looks at four new films on this month’s movie review edition of the Frankiesense & More video podcast! The show, to begin airing Thursday June 29 at 1 pm ET, will examine two new compelling documentaries, a Pride month offering and more. Tune in on Facebook or YouTube for all the fun and lively discussion! ...

Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, beginning Tuesday June 27, 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 “Being Mary Tyler Moore,” “You Hurt My Feelings,” “El Houb” (“The Love”) and “Mama Bears,” 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 ...

“El Houb” (“The Love,” “Laat de liefde spreken”). (2022). Cast: Fahd Larhzaoui, Lubna Azabal, Slimane Dazi, Sabri Saddik, Yahya Gaier, Emmanuel Ohene Boafa, Britte Lagcher, Nasrdin Dchar, Shad Issa Abdullah, Mahjoub Benmoussa, Walid Benmbarek, Esma Abouzahra, Rayan Berlhazi Alaoui. Director: Shariff Nasr. Screenplay: Shariff Nasr, Philip Delmaar, Fahd Larhzaoui, Tofik Dibi and Sahil Amar Aissa. Web site. Trailer. Imagine being compelled to live your life completely on others’ terms, never doing what you want, no matter how strong your desire. Sounds pretty dismal, right? Yet, for those in certain communities, that kind of coercion can be an everyday circumstance. The isolation can be positively crushing, removed from what suits you and being forced to pursue your dreams in secret, if at all, for fear of the repercussions. And, in the meantime, you’re likely to find yourself behaving in uncomfortable, unnatural ways, tantamount to living a lie everyday of your life. If you can appreciate that, then you can understand what many members of the LGBTQ+ community must still endure to this day, even under today’s supposedly more enlightened conditions. These are the circumstances addressed in the heartrending new Moroccan-Dutch gay domestic drama, “El Houb” (“The Love,” “Laat de liefde spreken”) ...

“Being Mary Tyler Moore” (2023). Cast: Voiceover Interviews and Observations/Archive Footage/Archive Voiceover Interviews and Observations: Mary Tyler Moore, James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, Treva Silverman, Lena Waithe, Robert Levine, Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner, Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie, Larry Mathews, Ann Morgan Guilbert, Jerry Paris, Richard Deacon, Danny Thomas, Bill Persky, Sid Caesar, Nanette Fabray, Edward Asner, Betty White, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Ted Knight, Gavin MacLeod, Georgia Engel, Robert Redford, Donald Sutherland, Timothy Hutton, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, David Letterman, Dinah Shore, Rona Barrett, Oprah Winfrey, David Susskind, Dick Cavett, Katie Couric, James Lipton, Norman Lear, James Burrows, Fred Silverman, Lucille Ball, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bernadette Peters, Reese Witherspoon, Phylicia Rashad, Rosie O’Donnell, Rob Reiner, Joel Grey, Beverly Sanders, Julie Andrews, Elvis Presley, Danny Kaye, David Janssen, Beatrice Arthur, Conrad Bain, Marlo Thomas, Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Betty Ford, Grant Tinker, John Tinker, Ronda Rich Tinker, Richard Meeker Jr., George Tyler Moore, Marjorie Tyler Moore, John Moore, Elizabeth Moore. Director: James Adolphus. Screenplay: James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, Susan Silver and Treva Silverman. Web site. Trailer. I find it curious how often many of us think of the everyday lives of well-known actors and actresses as being virtually identical to the parts ...