‘Midnight Special’ explores finding ourselves

“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 [...]

2017-09-16T03:01:49-05:00April 8th, 2016|Archives|

‘Everything Is Copy’ honors an artistic visionary

“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 [...]

2017-09-16T03:01:49-05:00April 6th, 2016|Archives|

This Week in Movies with Meaning

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.

2017-09-16T03:01:49-05:00April 5th, 2016|Archives|

‘Hello, My Name is Doris’ celebrates starting over

“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 [...]

2017-09-16T03:01:50-05:00March 31st, 2016|Archives|

‘Embrace of the Serpent’ seeks to define our place in the world

“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 [...]

2017-09-16T03:01:50-05:00March 30th, 2016|Archives|

On the Radio This Week

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!

2017-09-16T03:01:50-05:00March 30th, 2016|Archives|

This Week in Movies with Meaning

Reviews of "Eye in the Sky," "Everything Is Copy" and "Hello, My Name is Doris" 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 Bleecker Street Media.Photo by Dan Greenburg, courtesy of HBO.Photo by Aaron Epstein, courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

2017-09-16T03:01:50-05:00March 28th, 2016|Archives|

‘Creative Control’ dives into the heart of defining reality

“Creative Control” (2015 production, 2016 release). Cast: Benjamin Dickinson, Nora Zehetner, Dan Gill, Alexia Rasmussen, Reggie Watts. Director: Benjamin Dickinson. Screenplay: Micah Bloomberg and Benjamin Dickinson. Web site. Trailer.It’s easy to distinguish reality from fantasy, right? Are you sure? But what happens when the lines start to get blurred? For some, making the distinction may prove more problematic than one might think, a conundrum explored in the quirky new independent comedy-drama, “Creative Control.”When a hip New York ad agency is hired to come up with a marketing campaign for a new form of computer-based eyewear with interactive capabilities, the organization puts its best man, David (Benjamin Dickinson), on the account. To learn about the product, David decides to try it [...]

2017-09-16T03:01:50-05:00March 27th, 2016|Archives|

‘Miracles from Heaven’ puts faith to the test

“Miracles from Heaven” (2016). Cast: Jennifer Garner, Kylie Rogers, Martin Henderson, Queen Latifah, Brighton Sharbino, Courtney Fansler, Eugenio Derbez, John Carroll Lynch, Kelly Collins Lintz, Brandon Spink, Rhoda Griffis, Erica Allen McGee, Wayne Péré, Bruce Altman, Hannah Alligood, Zach Sale, J.M. Longoria, Gregory Alan Williams, Suehyla El-Attar. Director: Patricia Riggen. Screenplay: Randy Brown. Book: Christy Beam, Miracles from Heaven. Web site. Trailer.When our lives are challenged, it’s easy for our faith to get tested. So it is for a kindly, spiritual young mother when her 10-year-old daughter becomes gravely ill. But there’s always hope, and sometimes help arrives in the most unusual and inexplicable ways, as long as we believe in the possibility, circumstances detailed in the new faith-based family [...]

2017-09-16T03:01:50-05:00March 24th, 2016|Archives|

Movies with Meaning Is Back!

Reviews of "Miracles from Heaven," "Embrace of the Serpent" and "Creative Control" 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 © CTMG, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.Photo courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories.Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

2017-09-16T03:01:50-05:00March 22nd, 2016|Archives|
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