Oscar nominated actor Bradley Cooper (“American Sniper”) has made an unusual choice for his directorial debut. Warner Bros had been planning to remake “A Star is Born” for years (there are versions from 1937, 1954, 1976). This one was originally conceived as a vehicle directed by Clint Eastwood and staring Beyoncé. Cooper is almost as […]
A well-known American opera singer, a wealthy Japanese businessman, and South American politics all get mixed up together in this tense drama when the singer, Roxane Cross (Moore) is invited to give a concert in an unspecified Latin American country in honor of businessman Katsumi Hosokawa (Watanabe). They all arrive at Vice-President Ochoa’s mansion—Japanese translator Gen
After focusing on people in their twilight years in films like “I’ll See You in My Dreams” and “The Hero,” promising new writer/director Brett Haley has shifted his focus. “Hearts Beat Loud” is first and foremost a father/daughter “dramedy.” It is also a film about music and a story about difficult choices. Haley and screenwriting
Despite being nominated for three Golden Globe awards (Picture comedy, actor comedy, song), The Greatest Showman isn’t the spectacle it thinks it is. Following in the wake of La La Land, this musical history of PT Barnum lacks large set pieces and emotional punch found within the genre. While Jackman is electric on screen, The
This is how a comedy should be: Laugh out loud funny with substance and truth underneath. Zoe Lister-Jones is the current wonder woman who has written, directed, produced, and starred in a groundbreaking (to me) film about a couple who fights constantly, and playfully come up with the solution to their problems. I say “groundbreaking”
The Buena Vista Social Club dates back to 1996, when a loosely connected group of veteran musicians were brought together in Havana rather spontaneously to record two albums by African and Cuban musicians. The African musicians did not arrive because of visa problems, but band leader Juan de Marcos Gonzalez was determined to reinstate music
SXSW2017 opened with Austin legend Terrence Malick’s latest “cinematic poetry”, or at least that’s the positive spin fans used to describe it. When asked about working with the complicated, misunderstood and elusive Texan director, Mara (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) described the experience as “rough”. Fassbender (Steve Jobs) explained how difficult it was working with
South By Southwest has become, among other places, a platform for actors to transition to directors with smaller films. Ryan Gosling did it last year with Lost River, Diego Luna the year before with Caser Chavez. Oscar nominee Don Cheadle (The Avengers) not only makes his directorial debut with Miles Ahead, but also co-wrote the
Born to Be Blue suffers from the fact that Don Cheadle’s Miles Ahead is also playing at the SXSW film festival. The poorly timed films focus on the same plot lines that showcase drug addicted musicians grappling with their careers slipping through their fingers. This isn’t director Robert Budreau’s first feature on the famous heroin
What happens when two of the Marvel Avengers get together for a ride through County Music Hall of Fame…. Not much. I Saw the Light is a passion project for Hiddleston who is best known as Thor’s villainous brother Loki. The 34-year-old British actor debuts an impressive voice as the 1950’s country music bad boy.