Join me and host Christopher Closson for the Project Bring Me to Life podcast, premiering this Tuesday, December 8, at 8 pm Eastern, by clicking here. Tune in for a lively conversation about conscious creation and the movies accompanied by a live chat session on the topic ...

“Room” (2015). Cast: Brie Larson, Jason Tremblay, Sean Bridgers, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, Tom McCamus, Wendy Crewson, Amanda Brugel, Joe Pingue, Cas Anvar, Randal Edwards. Director: Lenny Abrahamson. Screenplay: Emma Donoghue. Book: Emma Donoghue, Room. Web site. Trailer. When it comes to understanding our existence, most of us probably believe we have a good handle on the subject. But do we? Are our perceptions of reality on target, or are they skewed by faulty or incomplete beliefs? And how do we correct such misperceptions (or would we even want to)? Those are among the thorny philosophical questions raised in the new suspenseful thriller, “Room.” Joy Newsome (Brie Larson) and her five-year-old son, Jack (Jason Tremblay), lead a rather unconventional existence. Their world is considerably smaller than what most of us are accustomed to, living their lives within the confines of a 10-foot by 10-foot backyard garden shed, a “home” Joy has generically designated “Room.” Their only view of the outside is through an overhead skylight, one that provides little illumination – and an even more limited glimpse of what lies beyond. Despite her confinement, Joy is aware of the wider reality outside, having been part of it for the ...

How can movies help you create the life you want? Find out by listening to my interview on the Internet radio show Frankiesense & More with host Frankie Picasso. The show airs today at 1 pm Eastern. Visit the show’s web site or download the podcast. Tune in for some fun, lively chat! ...

“Suffragette” (2015) Cast: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep, Anne-Marie Duff, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Natalie Press, Romola Garai, Grace Stottor, Finbar Lynch, Geoff Bell, Adam Michael Dodd, Adrian Schiller, Simon Gifford. Director: Sarah Gavron. Screenplay: Abi Morgan. Web site. Trailer. Leading the charge for change – especially on a mass scale – requires tremendous courage and bold actions. However, mustering the nerve to live up to those requirements may be more than many of us can handle. But, for those who can see the intrinsic need to bring about reform, calling upon one’s inner strength and fortitude may prove to be an inevitable eventuality, as a group of resolute women find out for themselves in the new historical drama, “Suffragette.” In 1912 London, a smoldering movement was about to catch fire. For more than a half-century, the women of England had been lobbying to secure the right to vote, all to no avail. Their growing frustration over this lack of results prompted groups of suffragettes to step up their efforts. Under the auspices of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), founder Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep) fervently urged her followers to actively take up the cause, zealously encouraging ...

“Trumbo” (2015). Cast: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, John Goodman, Louis C.K., Michael Stuhlbarg, Elle Fanning, David James Elliott, Dean O’Gorman, Christian Berkel, James DuMont, Alan Tudyk, Roger Bart, John Getz, Johnny Sneed, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Richard Portnow, Stephen Root, Madison Wolfe, Ronald Reagan (archive footage), Robert Taylor (archive footage), Humphrey Bogart (archive footage), Lauren Bacall (archive footage). Director: Jay Roach. Screenplay: John McNamara. Book: Bruce Cook, Dalton Trumbo. Web site. Trailer. Life may not always be fair, but it usually seems to find a way to right itself. Enduring the trials and tribulations of such challenges might not be easy, but it often provides those who experience them with valuable insights, an education into how to turn around such situations. So it was for a troubled blacklisted screenwriter in the Hollywood of the 1950s as seen in the inspiring new biopic, “Trumbo.” In 1947, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) was one of the most acclaimed and best paid scribes in Hollywood, having achieved success with the scripts for such films as “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” (1944) and the Oscar-nominated “Kitty Foyle” (1940). At the same time, he had also achieved a fair amount of notoriety for his radical politics ...

“Truth” (2015). Cast: Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Topher Grace, Dennis Quaid, Elisabeth Moss, Bruce Greenwood, Stacy Keach, John Benjamin Hickey, David Lyons, Dermot Mulroney, Rachael Blake, Andrew McFarlane, Noni Hazlehurst, Philip Quast, Nicholas Hope, Steve Bastoni, Helmut Bakaitis, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Tom Brokaw (archive footage), George Stephanopoulos (archive footage). Director: James Vanderbilt. Screenplay: James Vanderbilt. Book: Mary Mapes, Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power. Web site. Trailer. Getting to the heart of a matter seems like it should be a fairly simple, straightforward process, correct? Not necessarily. As a leading news organization found out in a very high-profile (and subsequently embarrassing) investigation, definitive conclusions may be more elusive than one might think, a story reconstructed in the recently released docudrama, “Truth.” On September 8, 2004, the CBS News magazine 60 Minutes II aired an investigative report that held the potential to be a real bombshell. The report, researched and written by longtime producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) and presented by veteran anchorman Dan Rather (Robert Redford), purported to reveal evidence proving that President George W. Bush had allegedly shirked his duty during his service as a Texas Air National Guard pilot from 1968 to 1974 ...