A review of "Queen of Katwe," a Helen Mirren retrospective and a radio show preview are all available in this week's Movies with Meaning post on the Blog Page of The Good Radio Network available by clicking here.Aspiring chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga, right) learns the game from mentor Robert Katende (David Oyelowo, left) in the inspiring new biopic, “Queen of Katwe.” Photo by Edward Echwalu, courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren), owner of an acclaimed upscale French bistro, struggles to keep a smile on her face with the unexpected arrival of new neighbors whom she believes will threaten her establishment’s reputation in director Lasse Halström’s comedy-drama, “The Hundred-Foot Journey.” Photo by François Duhamel, courtesy of Walt [...]

“Sunset Song” (2015 production, 2016 release). Cast: Agyness Deyn, Peter Mullan, Kevin Guthrie, Daniela Nardini, Jack Greenlees, Ron Donachie, Linda Duncan McLaughlin, Niall Greig Fulton, Gilbert Johnston, Douglas Rankine, Simon Tait. Director: Terence Davies. Screenplay: Terence Davies. Book: Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song. Web site. Trailer.Making one’s way in the world can be difficult enough, even under the best of circumstances. But, when conditions offer repeated challenges, the chances of success can become that much more difficult, as evidenced by the experiences of a young Scottish farm girl in the days before World War I, the subject of the moving drama, “Sunset Song,” now available on DVD, Blu-ray Disk and video on demand.Chris Guthrie (Agyness Deyn) lives a rather hard [...]

“Snowden” (2016). Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson, Nicolas Cage, Rhys Ifans, Ben Chaplin, Joely Richardson, Ben Schnetzer, Scott Eastwood, Lakeith Lee Stanfield, Patrick Joseph Byrnes, Timothy Olyphant, Bhasker Patel, Edward Snowden. Director: Oliver Stone. Screenplay: Kieran Fitzgerald and Oliver Stone. Books: Anatoly Kucherena, Time of the Octopus, and Luke Harding, The Snowden Files. Web site. Trailer.Heroes come in many forms. Some are obvious by their acts and deeds. Others are less apparent, working quietly behind the scenes to effect meaningful change. And others still may take drastic measures that leave them unappreciated for their efforts, perhaps even being vilified as criminals, agitators or traitors by members of officialdom. Those who fall into this last [...]

Join me and fellow reviewers Miriam Knight and Cynthia Sue Larson this Wednesday, September 21, when we’ll get together to discuss some of the latest book and movie releases on the quarterly Reviewers Roundtable broadcast of New Consciousness Review radio. Tune in at 2 pm ET by clicking here. Join us for some lively chat!

Reviews of "Snowden" and "The Beatles: Eight Days a Week -- The Touring Years" and a radio show preview are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the Blog Page of The Good Radio Network, available by clicking here.

“Sully” (2016). Cast: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Jamey Sheridan, Anna Gunn, Mike O’Malley, Katie Couric, Valerie Mahaffey, Blake Jones, Sam Huntington, Christopher Curry, Max Adler. Director: Clint Eastwood. Screenplay: Todd Komarnicki. Book: Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow, Highest Duty. Web site. Trailer.What makes a hero? Is it someone who performs extraordinarily beneficial acts? Or can it be someone who believes he or she is just doing his or her job? But what if it could be both? Those are among the issues posed in the new fact-based saga, “Sully.”In January 2009, the world was in awe of an event that came to be known as “the Miracle on the Hudson,” a successful water landing of a US [...]

Reviews of "Sully" and "Sunset Song" and a magazine article preview are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the Blog Page of The Good Radio Network, available by clicking here.

“Mia Madre” (“My Mother”) (2015 production, 2016 release). Cast: Margherita Buy, John Turturro, Giulia Lazzarini, Nanni Moretti, Beatrice Mancini, Stefano Abbati, Enrico Ianniello. Director: Nanni Moretti. Screenplay: Nanni Moretti, Francesco Piccolo and Valia Santella. Story: Nanni Moretti, Valia Santella, Gaia Manzini and Chiara Valerio. Web site. Trailer.Coping with the impending death of a loved one presents each of us with a unique challenge. How do we respond? Do we approach it directly, seeing circumstances for what they are? Or do we hold out hope against hope, running the risk of drowning in denial? What’s more, what impact does such an event have on our outlook about our own mortality? Those are among the questions posed in the emotional new Italian [...]

Reviews of "Mia Madre," "A Tale of Love and Darkness" and "The Square" are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the Blog Page of The Good Radio Network, available by clicking here.

“Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World” (2016). Cast: Elon Musk, Dr. Leon Kleinrock, Danny Hillis, Kevin Mitnick, Sebastian Thrun, Lawrence Krauss, Lucianne Walkowicz, Jonathan Zittrain, Shawn Carpenter, Werner Herzog (narrator). Director: Werner Herzog. Screenplay: Werner Herzog. Web site. Trailer.It’s almost inconceivable to think of life without the Internet. As if out of nowhere, this remarkable technology quietly emerged from modest beginnings and proceeded to explode, revolutionizing the world in countless ways – as well as in countless ways we have yet to imagine. But, given how unexpectedly this remarkable phenomenon arose, not to mention how it has come to so completely dominate many aspects of our lives, are we fully aware of its current influence and potential future [...]