“Midnight Special” (2016). Cast: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Jaeden Lieberher, Adam Driver, Sam Shepard, Bill Camp, Scott Haze, Paul Sparks, David Jensen. Director: Jeff Nichols. Screenplay: Jeff Nichols. Web site. Trailer. We all possess our own special talents and abilities, and managing them is generally feasible with the right guidance. But what would happen if we were to start exhibiting capabilities that are literally alien to this world? That can be especially complicated when the individual in question is a child, one who has his own challenges with learning how to fit into a world he barely knows – let alone one in which he is decidedly different from everyone else around him. Such is the scenario that plays out in the enigmatic new sci-fi adventure, “Midnight Special.” Who exactly is Alton Meyer (Jaeden Lieberher)? The sometimes-gifted, sometimes-troubled young boy is seen by some as a savior (especially by his adoptive father (Sam Shepard), a cult leader who considers the child an avatar), while others (particularly those in the government, such as NSA analyst Paul Sevier (Adam Driver)) view him as an unknown enigmatic force, possibly even a weaponized human. But to Roy Tomlin (Michael Shannon), the boy’s ...

“Everything Is Copy” (2016). Cast: Interviews: Jacob Bernstein, Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Meryl Streep, Mike Nichols, Steven Spielberg, Barbara Walters, Liz Smith, Gay Talese, Barry Diller, Rob Reiner, Rosie O’Donnell, Bob Balaban, Carl Bernstein, Delia Ephron, Amy Ephron, Hallie Ephron, Reese Witherspoon, Rita Wilson, Lena Dunham, Gaby Hoffman, David Geffen, Marie Brenner. Archive Footage: Nora Ephron. Directors: Jacob Bernstein and Nick Hooker. Web site. Trailer. Moviegoers are truly blessed when they’re able to screen the films of an incredible talent. They’re especially fortunate when that talent is prolific, producing many worthwhile creations in many different milieus. It’s regrettable, though, when the creator of those works doesn’t always receive the recognition that’s genuinely deserved. So it was to some degree with writer-director-playwright Nora Ephron (1941-2012), who produced an impressive repertoire over the course of her career. Thankfully, Ephron finally receives the kudos she so rightfully earned, as depicted in the new made-for-cable TV documentary, “Everything Is Copy.” As the eldest daughter of Hollywood screenwriters, Ephron grew up in the shadow of the movie business, though she did not immediately follow her parents’ path. She initially worked as a reporter and columnist at The New York Post and then as an essayist ...

Reviews of “Marguerite,” “Midnight Special” and “99 Homes” are all available in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the Blog Page of The Good Radio Network, available by clicking here. Photo courtesy of Cohen Media Group. Photo by Hooman Bahrani, courtesy of Broad Green Pictures ...

“Hello, My Name is Doris” (2016). Cast: Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Tyne Daly, Peter Gallagher, Beth Behrs, Stephen Root, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Elizabeth Reaser, Isabella Acres, Caroline Aaron, Natasha Lyonne, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Wisecky, Rich Sommer, Don Stark, Kyle Mooney. Director: Michael Showalter. Screenplay: Laura Terruso and Michael Showalter. Short Film Source Material: Laura Terruso, “Doris & the Intern.” Web site. Trailer. For those who feel life has passed them by, the onset of one’s golden years can be demoralizing. It’s easy to embrace regrets, feeling as though there’s no hope for the future. But need it be so? Can we realistically start over late in the game? Those are some of the questions put to an aging eccentric spinster in the quirky new independent comedy-drama, “Hello, My Name is Doris.” Doris Miller (Sally Field), a sixty-something accounting clerk who recently lost the mother she lived with all of her life, leads a rather lonely existence. She spends most of her free time with friends Roz (Tyne Daly) and Val (Caroline Aaron) or secludes herself in the home that, over time, has become a hoarder’s paradise. That starts to change, however, when she has a somewhat flirtatious crowded elevator encounter with ...

“Embrace of the Serpent” (“El abrazo de la serpiente”) (2015). Cast: Nilbio Torres, Jan Bijvoet, Antonio Bolívar Salvador, Brionne Davis, Yauenkü Miguee, Luigi Sciamanna, Nicolás Concino. Director: Ciro Guerra. Screenplay: Ciro Guerra and Jacques Toulemonde. Source Material: The diaries of Theodor Koch-Grünberg and Richard Evan Schultes. Web site. Trailer. What happens when individuals from two very different worlds come into contact with one another? In some instances, such clashes of cultures can have devastating effects. But, in other cases, the interaction can lead to entirely new understandings of one another, especially for those whose eyes have been closed to revelatory insights and blinded by superficial and materialistic concerns. Such is the experience of two Western explorers who journey into the remote Amazonian rainforest in the stunningly beautiful new Colombian epic, “Embrace of the Serpent” (“El abrazo de la serpiente”). “Embrace of the Serpent” tells two separate but related stories linked by common threads. Based on the diaries of explorers Theodor Koch-Grünberg and Richard Evan Schultes, the film follows the exploits of two similar but fictional adventurers, Theo (Jan Bijvoet) and Evan (Brionne Davis), as they make their way into the jungle in search of the rare yakruna plant, a hallucinogenic ...

Join me and host Frankie Picasso for this month’s edition of Movies with Meaning on Frankiesense & More radio, Thursday March 31 at 1 pm ET. We’ll look at some enlightening new film releases. Tune in here for some lively movie chat! ...