Tag: 1960s

EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT – Review

You’d think that Aussie director Baz Luhrmann would’ve had his fill of “the King” after making his big-budget Oscar-nominated biopic of ELVIS nearly four years ago. And you would be so wrong. And Presley fans (and scores of fanatics), along with general movielovers are all the richer for it. Turns out that Baz wanted access to all the footage from the two Elvis concert films from the early 70s, and was probably gobsmacked by the 68 boxes of 35mm (and some 8mm) film delivered from deep within the vaults of Warner Brothers. We do get an overview of the man’s life and career, but the main focus is on the legendary performing tenure begun in 1969 at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. All the hi-tech cleaning and polishing only add to the legend, and truly earn the main title of EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT. Lace up those blue suede shoes…

The taut ninety-minute documentary/concert deftly combines both cinema elements. Baz assembles little “sidebars” that pop up almost like chapter bookends here. There’s a section devoted to his adored “Mama”, initial cultural impact (an explosion almost) with a TV preacher’s warning of the “beat” that summons Satan, his Army stint, the “Colonel”, his romances (yes, Priscella’s there), and many other milestones. Plus, there’s a montage of his often silly (“See Elvis karate chop a tiger!”) later movies that prompted the big 1968 “comeback” TV special. But the real “meat” is the preparations for the big Vegas concert with several unlikely tunes that were considered. It’s interesting to hear the King’s take on a couple of Beatles tunes, along with a Simon and Garfunkel classic. And yes, he’s in excellent “voice”, this being some of his most polished vocal stylings. The rehearsals and preparation scenes build to the big Vegas opening, in which Elvis almost “reinvented” himself and began his new era of live-performance spectacles.

For some viewers, this new reworking of long-thought lost footage will reinforce their perception of this icon, while for the unfamilar much of this may be a revelation or a discovery. We see long hours in minimal facilities to tweak the sound, in order to go beyond the “flash and glitter”. Oh, but there is plenty of that, though. His gaudy, often loud fashion ensembles are on full display, making us think of how it’s the male peacock who attempts to dazzle the ladies. Dazzle is a restrained turn for Elvis’ magnetic appeal to the hordes of enraptured women fans of every age. He is their idealized lover, even if there’s a hint of danger. One great bit has Elvis zeroing in on one of his most prominent female backup singers, which inspires both fear and quivering desire. That’s just one of the scenes of his “clownin””, as we witness him cracking up over his persona. There’s a darkness to one of the “jokes” as Elvis inserts some drug references to one of his tunes, strange since he’d get a “drug buster badge” from then President Nixon less that a decade before he was felled by his addiction. Ah, but that feels like the distant future as we see the celeb-packed audience at that first Vegas concert. Why, he’s visited in his dressing room after the show by Sammy Davis, Jr. and Cary Grant! Oh, to be a fly on the wall to hear what they discussed, or at least to have better microphones trained on them. This is also an incredible time capsule of that time when beehive hairdos (or don’ts) ruled the skies, probably blocking a lot of the audience, who “dressed to impress”, perhaps to garner a glance or a quick smooch from their idol (he does love to wander through the smothering crowds). Yes, these are fun, happy snippets of kitsch, but there’s still some tragedy as Elvis mentions his interest in touring the world, though he would never venture beyond North America. My only complaint about Baz’s passion project is that some songs are cut short in order to avoid a long running time for the IMAX venues. Yes, I wanted more, but what’s there is really great. Oh, and don’t leave when the end credits begin. There’s a brief shot of E flanked by his “Memphis Mafia” as he briskly strolls down the hotel staff corridor past their cafeteria. In his bright blue jumpsuit, he looks like he popped in from Mount Olympus, making us wonder how this rock and roll deity existed on this planet with us. Sure, the music is still wonderful, but the whole mystique is what makes this time-traveling trip so memorable in the truly EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT. And yes, sadly, Elvis has left the building…

3.5 Out of 4

EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT is now playing exclusively on IMAX screens. It expands to theatres everywhere on Friday, February 27, 2026

STILLER & MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST – Review

Here’s a terrific showbiz documentary that’s been sent to streaming just months after another superb one, MY MOM JAYNE (which is still on HBO Max, if it’s still called that). Aside from both this doc’s subjects also being a big part of 20th century pop culture, they also both deal with siblings (both are directors of their docs), who are stars in their own right, discovering their parent(s) through boxes and cases of old recordings, press clippings, and notebooks. Sure, some of the legacy of Jayne Mansfield is fairly funny (such tacky fashions), this new film really explores humor, because it’s about a comedy team. That phrase usually conjures up Laurel & Hardy, the Stooges, those Marx Brothers, but this is one of the rare male/female teamings. While their early 60s contemporaries Nichols & May never settled down, this duo, like Burns & Allen decades before, married and started a family. Here’s the story of how their son Ben discovered that, with STILLER & MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST. Really, it’s all there…

The son, of course, is actor/director/writer/producer Ben Stiller. His father Jerry passed away in 2020, five years after his mom, Anne Meara. Since the world was in lockdown due to the pandemic, Ben decided to prepare their longtime Riverside apartment in NYC for an eventual sale (and take one last spin around with his camera). Before the place could be “staged” for presentation to buyers, Ben, and sister Amy, dove into the cases and cartons of material their folks had accumulated over nearly 70 years. Jerry and Anne married in 1953, and as they took on acting gigs in early TV and the theater, they decided to go out as a comedy team. And they were successful, first in nightclubs, and then becoming a favorite of Ed Sullivan (he booked them on his show 36 times). Ben and Amy relive those old days as they pour over correspondence (seeing their love letters), listening to countless audio cassettes, and watching grainy 8mm home movies. . Somehow, their folks almost return to vivid life, guiding Ben through a very difficult time (his recent separation from wife Christine Taylor). Along this nostalgic journey, Ben interviews his own family, along with dear friends of his parents, including actor Christopher Walken and playwright John Guare. In putting together this loving cinematic tribute, Ben realizes how similar his own life, personal and professional, to his recently departed mom and pop, Could this be sage parent advice and consul from the “Great Beyond”?

Talk about your “labor of love”! What a splendid, interesting and entertaining film which should help dispel that old notion that “documentaries are homework”. Certainly, Ben does make use of the doc trope of “talking heads” (mainly with his aunt), but he’s found a way to juggle and intercut the archival photos and footage in a fresh, compelling way. The segments from the Sullivan show are crisp, looking as though they aired new last Sunday night, while we also get the grainy VHS (or maybe half inch) video dupes of the duo co-hosting “The Mike Douglas Show” and bringing in little Benji and Amy for a sweet, though “ear-testing” violin duet. The notebook scribblings and the murky (sounds like a basement) audio of Anne and Jerry working out a routine for a TV appearance, gives us a rare peek at the creative process. We hear that Anne was relaxed and confident performing while Jerry was a perfection who fretted and “over-rehearsed”, which Ben recognizes in his own work discipline (yup, a chip off the “old man’s” block). There’s a big contrast in the duo’s early years. Jerry wasn’t encouraged by his folks, while Anne was the adored “princess”, perhaps because hers was a single parent household due to a horrific suicide. It’s also fascinating that when the team split, the marriage got a bit stronger since Anne could,at last, pursue dramatic roles and Jerry could finally be the solo comic he dreamed of (his lauded work on the TV sitcoms “Seinfeld” and “King of Queens” in his 70s is one heck of a rousing career third act). Plus the film does shine a light on Ben’s rise with his own 8mm films and videos (starring Jerry), while he also “takes the heat” during the one-on-one-interviews with his spouse and two kids (daughter Ella is still ticked that he cut her out of one of his features). Pressure and guilt (being away too long) are shared by both generations in the “biz”. This is a “pull-no-punches” journey, though with a touch of sweet nostalgia, that is a must for comedy fans (the “collection” is now part of the Museum of Comedy in New York state) of the current media icon and the team that spawned him. Hopefully they’ll be “rediscovered” and found via STILLER & MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST.

3.5 out of 4

STILLER & MEARA : NOTHING IS LOST is now streaming exclusively on Apple TV+ and is playing in select theaters

NAKED AMBITION (2025) – Review

Here’s a terrific new release that dispels that old, certainly now outdated, thought that watching a documntary was “homework”. This one’s a brisk, breezy romp through the fringes of pop culture that makes a sharp turn into an exploration of the changing attitudes towards the societal roles of women. So, yes, sex does play a big part. Mainly, it’s a portrait of an artist (that label may have irked and offended the intellectual elite then, but few would question it now). That artist in question is a photographer named Bunny (born Linnea) Yeagar who actually went from being a model in front of the camera to staging and snapping pics of, sometimes referred to as, “pin-up queens”. These ladies were usually clad in bikinis (which Bunny popularized), exotic attire, and sometimes in the “all together,” which gives a multiple meaning to this doc’s title, NAKED AMBITION.

The locale for Bunny’s life story quickly shifts from her birth in a chilly Pittsburgh suburb to sun-kissed Miami in the late 1940s. After winning several beauty pageants, she became a very busy photo model for several magazines and newspapers originating from Florida. That “ambition” started early as she embraced the big swimsuit sensation, the bikini, and enhanced them with her own design (one was comprised of plastic daisies). A new career opened up when she took a night class in photography at a vocational school. Bunny began taking pics of herself (perhaps these are the earliest “selfies”), then directed her BFF Maria Stinger (now there’s a great model moniker) in some very popular “men’s Magazine” spreads before expanding her “roster”. Seems that women were more comfortable with her behind the lens, rather than the leering men who formed “camera clubs”. Then, in 1954, through her photo mentor Irving Claw (another great name), Bunny met her muse, the bubbly brunette with the “bangs”, Bettie Page. These pics of Ms. Page, especially those taken at a wild animal “safari” park, became staples of pop culture when she was “rediscovered” through the Dave Stevens art of the Rocketeer graphic novels. Those shots attracted Hugh Hefner, and soon Bunny was a staple of his fledgling Playboy magazine. In the doc, we’re introduced to Bunny’s first husband, Arthur, a former cop, who becomes her business partner and the father of their two daughters, Cherilu and Lisa. We learn how Bunny took side “gigs” in the movies (with Sinatra) and later crooned as a lounge singer. But with the huge cultural shift in the late 60s, the public passed up the camp “cheesecake” for pornography (even parting ways with Playboy) and Bunny was adrift until a new appreciation in the late 1990s that led to new hardcover book collections and several gallery shows (at the Warhol). In the film’s epilogue, we’re told that Bunny shot on film right up until her passing at age 85 in 2014.

Director Dennis Scholl and Kareem Tabsch are two talented cinema “tour guides” for this chronicling of a remarkable life. Yes, there are the usual “talking heads”, but those interviewed offer some great insight into Bunny’s technique, including several working photogs, historians, and the modern “glamour gal” icon Dita Von Teese. And there’s some archival interview, though Larry King’s “chestnut” tale of a fan encounter doesn’t add much, ditto for the recollections of Hef. However, the audio-only stories from the real Page are quite engaging, as are the contrasting views of Bunny’s daughters (Lisa embraces her mom’s legacy while the more conservative Cherilu is somewhat embarrassed). The best parts of the docs are the incredible collages of the campy cheesecake pics that somehow still resonate a sweet innocence since most of the models are smiling, some even in “mid-laff”, conveying the high spirits of those optimistic days nearly 70 years ago. The filmmakers also address the big societal changes, first with Bunny’s friendship with a famous photo “buff”, Sammy Davis, Jr, who had to hide in the back seat when the two cruised around Miami before a “model shoot”. And later Bunny tries to get more “provocative” with the free-spirited “hippie chicks” in the late 60s. Plus, we get to view some grainy, faded home movie footage (I imagined the film disintegrating right after the digital transfer) and some adorably stiff and awkward films of an “actual photo session”. Scholl and Tabsch don’t shy away from the “tough times” as we learn of the demise of Bunny’s depressed hubby and their trumped-up obscenity bust. Luckily, the story ends on a triumphant note, despite the clash between the daughters and some estate problems, as Bunny gets her well-earned praise and appreciation from her peers. Her story, as told in the engaging NAKED AMBITION, is pretty close to “picture perfect”.

3 out of 4

NAKED AMBITION is now playing in select theatres

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN – Review

Timothée Chalamet in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. Photo by Macall Polay, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

Timothee Chalamet stars a young Bob Dylan at the beginning of his career, in director James Mangold’s A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. The biopic begins with the 19-year-old musician newly arrived in New York and visiting Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), hospitalized and rendered mute by his Huntington’s chorea. Guthrie’s friend and fellow social activist folk musician great Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) is there too, visiting Guthrie as he regularly did.

Seeger is polite to the young visitor but, at first, he assumes Dylan is just another fan, paying his respects to the legendary Woody Guthrie. That all changes when Dylan plays a song he wrote for Guthrie, and both Guthrie and Seeger are thunder-struck as they realize they are hearing a brilliant new talent. Seeger sets out to introduce young Bob Dylan to the central forces in the folk music movement in New York, including recording studio owners, and iconic figures like music ethnographer Alan Lomax (Norbert Leo Butz), and Dylan’s tough manager Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler). Seeger shepherds Dylan into the top tier of its Greenwich Village inner circle.

The biopic follows Dylan’s rise in the New York’s folk music community, then his leap to fame, and then up to the famous pivotal moment when he split with the folk music movement by going electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

The music is one of the most delightful aspects of this top-notch drama. The film lets Bob Dylan fans revisit his music and his story, but the film also introduces that music to another generation, as it recounts the history. We hear all the Bob Dylan early hits, including the song that forms the title.

We meet other musical greats of the era, such as Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook), and we get a sampling of their hits as well. The film covers Dylan’s personal life and love life as well as his music, and that includes his romance with Baez. Elle Fanning plays non-musician Sylvie Russo, which whom Timothee Chalamet’s Dylan pursues and then has a long up-and-down affair, in a nice performance. But the one who comes on strongest in the film is Monica Barbaro’s Joan Baez, already a star when Dylan arrives and the only seemingly not awed by his talent. Her strong-will and independence make her irresistible to Dylan but set up round after round of conflict, giving the film a bit dramatic kick and an unpredictability.

In this warts-and-all biopic, Chalamet is both charming and callous as the talented but sometimes selfish Dylan, but the most impressive performance comes from Edward Norton, who is astonishing as he channels folk legend Pete Seeger. As someone who met the real Pete Seeger late in his life, I was struck by how perfectly Edward Norton captured Seeger’s posture and mannerisms, his speech cadence, and even more his personality, his combination of gentleness, tact and yet total determination that you will do it his way.

The film does a wonderful job evoking that era of folk music and artists in the smokey, underground cafes of Greenwich Village. The folk music movement aimed to spread appreciation of traditional music played on traditional instruments, with a sense of social activism and awareness, with a big pro-union base. Pete Seeger had taken on leadership in that movement, but he and all the folk music supporters were thrilled by the star power and public attention Bob Dylan brought to their cause.

With A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, James Mangold is top of his game, crafting an excellent biopic filled with glorious music and a spot-on, perfect recreation of a vanished time and New York’s folk music community at it’s height.

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN opens Wednesday, Dec. 25, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

OSS 117 Returns in a New 2 Disc BluRay set

En garde, worldwide enemies of France, along with all freedom-loving people! Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath AKA super-agent OSS 117 is on the case! Actually, he’s on two cases as a pair of his deadliest missions is now available in a nifty ultra-cool double BluRay gift set. Yes, I know Santa “made the scene” over a week ago, but if you’re wondering what to do with your gift cards or return credits, well…


First, let’s crack open the dossier file on this operative. The character springs from a series of novels begun by writer Jean Bruce, beating Ian Fleming’s 007 by six years. Of course, the movie studios beckoned, and a movie franchise premiered in 1957 and concluded in 1970. Ah, but you can’t keep a good spy down. Five years before they teamed on the Oscar-winning THE ARTIST, director/co-writer Michel Hazanavicius and star Jean Dujardin re-imagined the hero as a slapstick and often clueless oaf. The inspiration for the 21st-century incarnation is of course OG superspy Sean Connery’s Bond, along with touches of James Coburn’s Derek Flint and Dean Martin’s Matt Helm. However, most current audiences may compare him to Maxwell Smart (Don Adams and Steve Carell) and Mike Meyer’s Austin Powers.

The major difference from the last two agent’s exploits is the filmmaker’s expert mimicking of the look and style of the spy genre of the 60s. For instance, in the first parody flick from 2006, OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES, which is set in 1955, there are lots of rear-projection sequences, day-for-night photography, and bright “pulp novel” color (except for the black and white WWII flashback prologue). Dujardin is the perfect sexist equal opportunity offender in his slick-tailored suits accented by his goofball grin and expert comic timing. He’s sent to Cairo to track down the killers of an old pal. And for the romantic subplot, he’s paired with future THE ARTIST co-star Berenice Bejo as a tough Arab operative.

And on the second disc we jump ahead to swingin’ 1967 for OSS 117: LOST IN RIO, as Hubert heads to “warmer climes” to make a payoff (cash for a list of French Nazi colluders). The colors are still eye-popping reflecting the “mod” look (lots of hippies). Plus there’s a great nod to that era’s multi-image, split-screen storytelling ala THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, not to mention the use of footage from a 50s classic, a Hitchcock-inspired finale, and Matt Helm himself, Dean Martin, crooning on the soundtrack. Hubert hasn’t become more enlightened with time as he clashes with another beautiful female spy, this time from Mossad, played by Louise Monot while eluding former Nazis, vengeful Asian assassins, lucha libre goons, and an American CIA contact who mumbles English language expletive-laden insults.

Now, the gorgeous BluRay transfers should be enough to satisfy any spy parody fans. Ah, but that’s not all you get! Each disc is jam-packed with fantastic extras. There are deleted and alternate scenes, bloopers, feature commentaries, photo galleries, teasers, trailers, and “making of” docs. Actually, the second disc has a bit more as we’re with the cast as they descend upon cinemas running sneak previews and has a very funny on-set profile of star Dujardin. It’s hours of sublime entertainment. And it would look great next to a heart-shaped box of Valentine’s Day candy, or it could easily fit into an Easter basket of goodies. Magnifique, Monseuir OSS 117!

“The Bride” (“La Sposa”) – TV Series Review

Serena Rossi as Maria, the bride in the Italian TV mini-series drama “The Bride” (“La Sposa”). Courtesy of MHz Choice

Italian TV gives us “The Bride” (“La Sposa”), a dramatic miniseries about a woman enduring many types of hardship for an emotionally intense quartet of hour-long episodes. It could be marginalized as a “chick flick” or soap opera without much of a sexy side but it turns out to be a fairly compelling character study of the eponymous bride, Maria (Serena Rossi), and the culture surrounding her in 1960 rural Italy.

Maria’s family was dirt poor, about to lose their humble home in a village in the southern region. Desperate to save her mother and two younger siblings from being homeless, she agrees to marry grumpy old farmer Vittorio (Maurizio Donadoni) from far to the north in exchange for his promise to clear their debts and send a monthly stipend to them. Then she learns Vittorio was only there as a proxy for his nephew, Italo (Giorgio Marchesi), who would be her ACTUAL hubby.

After a long drive, they arrive at the rundown farm to meet a husband who had no desire to marry anyone. He was still grieving deeply (and mostly drunkenly) over the disappearance of his wife. He was so distraught that he even ignored their young son, Paolino (Antonio Nicolai) so badly that he became almost feral from neglect by the two men. She also lands in a role of oppressive submission, accepting an inhumane workload in the house, fields and with their few animals. She toils though all of it capably and without complaint despite not receiving a whiff of kindness or appreciation. Vittorio and Italo treat her like a lowly servant no matter what she accomplishes for them.

The first positive development is when Paolino eventually responds positively to her. But the women of the village shun her because she came from the (disparaged) South, and by assuming the marriage was HER idea, despite the uncertainty of whether the first wife had died. The men resented her simply because of her gender.

Other characters from Maria’s past and present become key players in her ordeal with fully developed story arcs of their own. The microcosm of her situation expands with larger plot-lines about the declining economy for small farmers, new industries displacing the locals and making their traditional way of life obsolete, clashes between labor and ownership, along with other challenges for Maria and everyone around her. I can’t write more about the plot without getting into spoiler territory.

This all adds up to a slow-moving character study that works largely because of Rossi’s outstanding performance. Maria has many dimensions and Rossi is credible (or beyond) in all of them, without overplaying any. Character arcs of others seem realistic throughout all their hardships, losses and positives that unfold. Regular readers may notice that this genre is well outside of my usual range. At many points it seemed to drag, with a number of scenes that chafed because of what happened or what *didn’t* happen when it could/should have. But I’m glad I was alone while screening this, since it also succeeded in eliciting both sad and joyful eye-moistening moments during which I preferred not being observed.

There. You have my confession.

“The Bride,” in Italian with English subtitles, is available streaming starting Sept 5 on MHzChoice.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

“The Bride” on MHz Choice

THE MIRACLE CLUB – Review

Agnes O’Casey as Dolly, Kathy Bates as Eileen Dunne and Maggie Smith as Lily Fox sign up for the ‘All Stars Talent Show’ in THE MIRACLE CLUB. Photo credit: Jonathan Hession. © themiracleclubcopyright 2023. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates play longtime friends in ’60s Ballygar, Ireland hoping to win a church talent contest for a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, in Irish director Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s dramedy THE MIRACLE CLUB. Actually there are three friends, with the third being a young neighbor, played by Agnes O’Casey. The women have differing reason for wanting to make the pilgrimage – two hope for a miracle and one wants a trip of lifetime. There is a fourth woman is on the trip, Chrissie (Laura Linney), the long-absent daughter of a recently deceased friend, who has returned after four decades in America for the funeral of her estranged mother.

THE MIRACLE CLUB is a well-meaning drama with dashes of comedy, but it is less about religion than you might assume for a movie about a trip to the religious site of Lourdes. Rather, it is more about self-reflection on long-held grudges, guilt and regrets, and the possibility of forgiveness and hope. While the film is warm, it is also predictable, although it is lifted by its remarkable cast, which includes Laura Linney and Stephen Rea. The Irish dramedy is based on a story by Jimmy Smallhorne, with a screenplay by Smallhorne, Timothy Prager and Joshua D. Maurer.

Eileen (Kathy Bates) is one of the two hoping for a miracle. She has discovered a lump in her breast and although she hasn’t been to a doctor, she is sure it is cancer, so she is hoping for a miracle cure from Lourdes famous waters. She is also looking for a break from her stressful home life, with a chaotic house full of children and a lazy husband, Frank (Stephen Rea), who does nothing to help out. Young wife and mother Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) is hoping for a miracle for her school age son, Daniel (Eric D. Smith), who has never spoken a word, and is determined to go to Lourdes despite opposition from her domineering husband George (Mark McKenna), who leaves all the care of the house, Daniel and their newborn baby entirely to his wife while treating her with dismissive disrespect. Lily (Maggie Smith), who has a bad leg, isn’t looking for a cure or a miracle, but she dreams of visiting a site she always wanted to see, while she’s still able to travel. Lily is haunted by the death of her only son Declan, who drown in the sea forty years ago, and she frequently visits his seaside memorial plaque, an obsession her needy husband (Niall Buggy) doesn’t understand.

The women live in a neighborhood that is a close-knit community, more like a village than part of a big city. But life is hard, particularly for women in this traditional, patriarchal era, and the women are full of regrets, resentments, disappointments and grudges. The lure of the trip is less religious devotion than the idea of travel to “exotic” France, to a famous place where miracles might happen. Pilgrimage site Lourdes is a perfect spot for this dream, a place where the faithful believe the waters have the power to heal but also somewhere with a reputation as a kind of Catholic “Disneyland,” filled with touristy souvenir shops.

The church talent show is run by the kindly priest Father Dermot Byrne (Mark O’Halloran) in the church hall. But Father Byrne is also overseeing a funeral, for a longtime friend of Lily and Eileen whose daughter left Ireland for American forty years ago under a cloud of scandal. The long-absent daughter, Chrissie (Laura Linney) has now returned for the funeral, although she did not arrive in time to say goodbye to her estranged mother.

When Chrissie turns up at the church hall where the talent contest is taking place, the reception she gets from long-ago friends Eileen and Lily is more than chilly – hostile even, with sharp-tongued Eileen especially vicious in her snub.

Yet all four women end up on the bus for the trip to Lourdes, along with the parish priest, who acts as tour director, and hopes for some kind of healing, emotional and spiritual, for the women. Despite Chrissie’s unwelcome presence, Lily, Eileen and Dolly are excited about the trip, which includes a night in a hotel, likely the first time these work-class women have had that experience.

The movie gets off to a slow start and has some stiff, awkward moments, particularly when the characters first get to Lourdes, but about halfway through it takes a turns towards a deeper, human story. The film is plagued by predictability but it is lifted by its great cast, who deliver some sparkling moments despite it all.

This is very much an ensemble film but Agnes O’Casey, the great-granddaughter of legendary Irish playwright Sean O’Casey, is particularly impressive in her first feature film role. Maggie Smith is, as always, amazing but her Lily is a far different, more reserved character, than the Dowager Countess played in “Downton Abbey,” so fans expecting those verbal zingers will be largely disappointed. It is Kathy Bates’ Eileen who is the fiery one in this story, and Eileen peppers the air with some salty language, even laying into Mark O’Halloran’s kindly priest in one drunken tirade.

While the Dublin portion is shot on location, the Lourdes scenes aren’t, with recreated locations and even green screen for some famous sites, which diminished its authenticity. Once again, the film leans on its cast to overcome its problems.

The film also has a little 1960s-era feminist theme, with the wives going off and leaving their outraged, domestically-helpless husbands to cope with taking care of the kiddies and the house, including diaper changes, shopping and cooking. Although, predictably. this leads to a new appreciation of what their wives deal with daily, these scenes back home also yield some nice comic bits, like a very funny Stephen Rea serving his brood a gray-looking stew while complaining about how hard he worked on it.

While not everything goes smoothly for this gentle film about long-held grudges, self-reflection and potential forgiveness against the backdrop of the famous Catholic pilgrimage site, it does find its way to a warm if expected resolution by the end. The film is really aimed at a certain kind of audience, a more thoughtful, introspective one than an audience looking for an Irish old gal pals kick-up-your-heels comedy trip, along the lines of “80 for Brady.” With its salty language and pointed observations, it might not be for the most devout either. Although there is some snarky jibes (these women are, after all, Irish), those hoping for those sharp-as-glass zingers from Maggie Smith, which she delivered so well in “Downton Abbey,” won’t find them here. Instead, it is Kathy Bates’ character who has the sharp-tongue and she doesn’t hesitate to use it to launch word-bombs, even right there in the church hall. While this is not a unquestioning travel ad for Lourdes, it does treat the religious site with some care, so believers won’t feel uncomfortable in that aspect.

There are things that THE MIRACLE CLUB does get right, like the gritty feel of the low-income Dublin neighborhood, which feels like a village apart from the city itself. The period fashions are well-done, particularly for Agnes O’Casey’s younger Dolly, as well as the sense of women running everything thanklessly for the clueless men, who dismiss their efforts until the women are gone on their trip. Another thing it captures well is the women’s anticipation about what might happen in Lourdes, a mix of religious dreams and real-world doubt. The excitement of the women, whose lives were so hard, just anticipating a night in a hotel, something working-class women of that era might never have done before, is another touch of period realism.

All that means that THE MIRACLE CLUB is not for every audience. There is humor but the film’s thoughtful self-reflective message is the real point.

THE MIRACLE CLUB opens Friday, July 14, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

BOSTON STRANGLER – Review

(L-R): Carrie Coon as Jean Cole and Keira Knightley as Loretta McLaughlin in 20th Century Studios’ BOSTON STRANGLER, exclusively on Hulu. Photo by Claire Folger. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Do you recall what kind of viewing was all the rage when most of us were stuck indoors during the big pandemic a couple of years ago? Well, aside from a fictional fable of a chess whiz, it was true crime streaming TV. Of course, many folks still love to binge these often multipart documentaries. And one has become a docudrama, about that Tiger King. A good number of them concern that thriller staple of the last three or four decades, the serial killer. So when did this “boogeyman” enter the zeitgeist? You could go all the way back to Jack the Ripper. Well, this new film is about his American cousin who was a terror of the early 1960s. he even got the big Hollywood treatment 55 years ago. But here’s a new take in which he’s a supporting player since this story mostly concerns the two intrepid news reporters that aided in the capture of the BOSTON STRANGLER.


This version of the tale actually begins with a murder in a state far away from “Beantown” as Det. DeLine (Rory Cochrane) discovers the horrific aftermath of a disturbance call at an apartment building. From there we jump back a few years to the cold Eastern US streets in early 1963. Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley) is becoming frustrated in her job writing for the Boston Record America. She yearns to be part of the “crime beat’, like Jean Cole (Carrie Coon). Instead, the paper’s editor Jack Maclaine (Chris Cooper) thinks that she (and other female reporters) are better suited to cover fashion shows and test new toasters. But Loretta’s been following a series of murders that have been “buried” from the front page. Since the Summer of 62,’ a couple of (mostly older) single women were found strangled with their pantyhose (looking like a “gift bow”) with almost no evidence or signs of forced entry into their homes. Loretta locates the local “cop bar” and finds a sympathetic ally in Det. Conley (Alessandro Nivola), who thinks his bosses are “dragging their heels”. Finally, Loretta brings her research to Jack, who dismisses it because he doesn’t want to antagonize the police and city hall. But the murders continue, and Jack finally gives her the go-ahead, but she’ll be paired with Jean. As their stories are now front page fodder, Jack decides to promote the pair as his crimebusting Lois Lanes. But will their byline and publicity stills put a target on their backs for the fiend they’ve labeled (replacing “phantom”), the Boston Strangler?

As you might have surmised, the story’s main character isn’t the title one, but rather it’s Knightley as the dogged reporter. We can almost see her Loretta roll her eyes when she’s handed a “puff piece” and later attempt to hide her annoyance at home with her kids and hubby. When she begins really digging, she plows through the sexist barriers that the police and her “higher-ups’ try to block her questions (shades of Hildy Johnson). Extra kudos to Knightly for nailing the Yank accent without drifting into the “caar in the yaard” cliches. Ditto for his ink-stained partner Coon as the seasoned writer Jean. She tries to temper Loretta’s zeal, but slowly we see that Jean’s own passions are re-ignited by the forced pairing. Plus her tenure gives her the chutzpah to go toe-to-toe with her grizzled overseer, editor Jack played with gruff and gravitas by the always compelling Cooper. He’s an old newshound who, bit by bit, sees the need for “fresh eyes” as he goes out on a limb, risking the ire of the owner and city hall, to scoop his rivals. Plus he’s not above a little “razzle dazzle’ as he sees a way to exploit his staff’s “novelty” (the duo as a “sidebar'”is an extra “grabber”). Also a bit terse is Nivola, as the best cop who doesn’t want to “make waves”, but has to get the killer, even if it means tossing “off the record” info to Loretta. We see a growing mutual respect build between the two, even as Conley tells her to tell the station operative that she’s his sister. And of note is Morgan Spector as Loretta’s husband James, who gushes with pride over his wife’s works until he winces as he eats away at her time with him and the kids.

Although it’s been several months since the previous film’s release, this could almost be seen as a “prequel in spirit” to the under-appreciated SHE SAID, as both involve hyper-focused female newspaper reporters. However, this new take on a long, long ago investigation has strong elements of a classic whodunit, while also highlighting the sexist attitudes in the days before the women’s liberation movement. In the newer film, we know who the “perp’ is, while Jean and Loretta wonder who may be “tailing” them, perhaps to add to an ever-growing morgue list. The women are brave, but they know when to skirt danger, as Loretta decline one creep’s invitation to his “lair”. This well-crafted true-crime drama is told with great skill by writer/director Matt Ruskin, eschewing the exploitative tone of the 1968 potboiler. The mood and the settings take us back to the early 60s, from the newsroom alive with a typewriter “symphony” to the cold, dark desolate streets that hide a maniac. Oh, if you think you know the real story from the Tony Curtis flick, well you’re in for lots of shockers. While last year’s movie has a true finality (though the Weinstein case is still active), this one hints that it may be too late for a real “solution”. But with this superb cast and expert execution, there should be a new spot on the list of newspaper crime dramas, alongside ZODIAC, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, and SPOTLIGHT for BOSTON STRANGLER.

3.5 Out of 4

BOSTON STRANGLER streams exclusively on Hulu beginning on March 17, 2023

THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER – Review

This week’s new film release may seem like more of a Summer escapist flick with an average Joe traveling across the globe and acting like the ole comic trope “the fish out of water”, That notion is somewhat re-enforced by the film’s star, who’s mostly known for musicals and comedies, and by the movie’s marketing team, who are ‘selling it” as a zany romp, Much as with DOG from earlier this year, don’t judge a flick by its cast or ads. That’s because the story’s protagonist is headed to Vietnam… in 1967, the definition of a “hot spot”. Now if this mix of whimsy and social/political upheaval in the “swingin’ 60s”, sounds a bit like the recent Best Picture Oscar winner THE GREEN BOOK (which was set five or six years before this), well you’re pretty perceptive because this is from the same filmmaker who hopes to entertain and enlighten us once again with this true story all about THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER.

The “run” actually starts in a neighborhood bar in Manhattan on that fateful year. The “mainstays’ are telling tales and busting…chops, as John “Chickie” Donohue (Zac Efron) cajoles the owner/bartender, known affectionately as “The Colonel” (Bill Murray) to put a brew on his “tab”. The spirits are deflated a bit when the TV spews out more images of the deadly combat overseas. Cut to late the next morning as Chickie is rousted out of bed by his bombastic “old man”. Since Chickie’s a merchant marine, and unmarried, he’s crashing with his family since he’s often out to sea for months. The only thing that Pops insists on is that he attended weekend mass. The local church is an oasis of calm after he endures the heated arguments between his folks and his college-age sister Christine (Ruby Ashbourne Serkis). She actually protests the US involvement “over there” at the nearby park, which is the scene of a brawl involving Chickie and a “pub pal”. Back at said “watering hole”, the Colonel wishes he could do something for “the boys” awww, even if he could just bring them a beer. Suddenly an idea pops into Chickies’ pickled brain. He’ll bring the neighbor gang beers since he can work on a cargo ship headed to Nam. He finds out a vessel is shipping out, then fills a battered gym bag full of PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) cans, along with some cash, letter, and other trinkets from “service families” and dashes to the docks. Before ya know it, he’s in the harbor pleading with his CO for a multi-day leave. Begrudgingly, Chickie gets 72 hours. From there he’s checking names off his list, giving out “not-so-cold ones”, and grabbing truck and copter rides from staffers that think he’s CIA (he is wearing a plaid Sear short-sleeve shirt and jeans). But as Chickie gets farther “in-country”, the horrors of battle may take him down, despite the help of a grizzled news “photog” named Coates (Russell Crowe). Can Chickie get back to his boat in time, or will this “goodwill trip” cost him his life?

With great energy and physicality, Efron dives into this character role in an attempt to break out of the “teen dream’ matinee idol parts. And he often succeeds. His Chickie has goofy charm to spare as he fumbles to express his often conflicting motivations. He truly wants to help the “guys from the block”, but his enthusiasm colors his world view. Chickie thinks that the fellas only need to be shown that their hometown’s behind them. Of course, the guys he finally finds, think that he’s misguided and reckless (“too stupid to get killed”). Efron conveys that sweaty panic as his eyes are fully “opened” to the dirty deeds done in the name of “country”. Doing much to pry those “lids” is Crowe who has the necessary gravitas to “spill the beans” while dodging the bombs to deliver the unvarnished story. Unlike his array of action heroes, Coates is content to click the camera rather than a pistol, as he adopts Chickie almost as a pet or a naive son who must be sent back. Of course, Chickie may not get the neighborhood guys to listen, men like The Colonel, who Murray embodies with none of his snarky attitude. Rather, he’s as straight and unwavering as his impressive silver “buzzcut”. As for the gangs at his pub, the funniest might be Hal Cumpston as Leary, a doofus who switches his opinion with lightning speed (“a flip-flopper”). Lighting up the screen is Kristen Carey as the mother of one of Chickie’s best pals who is MIA. Her inner light for him glows brightly, though we can see that she is braced for the worst.

The aforementioned director is Peter Farrelly, who also co-wrote the adaptation (with Pete Jones and Brian Hayes Currie) of the book the real Chickie wrote with Joanna Molloy. He keeps the story flowing fairly smoothly, though a few of the brief flashbacks tend to slow down the tale’s progression (blips of Chichie with his MIA bud). Plus he goes deep into the heated family dinner table verbal battles that seem to be sparking back up in more recent political and philosophical “showdowns”. But, unlike 2018’s THE GREEN BOOK (four years, really), there’s little time for character interaction. Chickie’s time with the old NYC guys feels truncated as he has to keep moving, and any chemistry with Coates is drowned out by the bombs and bullets. And frankly, the GIs make few impressions as some wonder if they can ever really return home. Some of the “pencil-pushers” who think that Chickie is an “undercover” provide a bit of levity, but it’s scarce. And despite the “R” rating, much of the conflict feels too “tidy” as Chickie can easily reconnect with folks on the way. It feels less DEER HUNTER” and more GOOD MORNING VIETNAM, as the horrors force Chickie into an awareness (maybe a bit “woke”). As Mr. Joel sang, “the good ole days weren’t all that good”, but this is a tune that’s been played too often making this feel like a slightly elevated basic cable dramedy. Perhaps a few brews from the bag would’ve made THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER go down easier, but it just leaves the viewer with a throbbing movie hangover.

2.5 Out of 4

THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER opens in select theatres and streams exclusively on AppleTV+ beginning Friday, September 30, 2022

HAPPENING – Review

Wow, now there’s some epic movie “subject matter” timing, almost on par with THE CHINA SYNDROME (in theatres when the news on Three Mile Island broke). Now, mind you this film’s set over 60 years ago, and it’s based on a celebrated novel from 2000. But it couldn’t be released at a better time. Oh, and it arrives after receiving many significant awards, particularly the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion last year. And though its themes have dominated US headlines for the last couple of weeks, a very long time ago in a foreign land it was still a most dire and morally fraught HAPPENING.


That aforementioned time is 1960 and that land in France, in a medium-sized city far from bustling Paris. Twenty-year-old Anne (Anamarie Vartolomei) is living on the campus of what we might call a “junior college”, but only miles away from her folks Gabrielle and Jacques who run a small bistro. Happily, Anne has two best school pals, the wild, free-spirited Brigette (Louise Orry-Diquero), and the shy, fairly naive Helene (Luana Bajrami). Now, Anne’s the more studious of three as she focuses on literature, with aspirations to be a writer herself rather than a teacher. Oh but she’s not always “buried in the books’ and enjoys heading down to the local pub/dance club with the trio’s male buddy (Katey Mottet Klein) who steps in when the flirtatious local firemen get a bit too aggressive. Life is going great until she develops a ravenous appetite and becomes pale and lethargic…and “late”. A trip to the doctor confirms her worse fear: she is pregnant. The distraught young woman hints that the doc should help her “end it” causing him to reel back in fear of a prison sentence for both of them. Another doctor merely prescribes a drug that would resume her “cycle”. As the weeks pass Anne becomes more desperate, imploring her friends for “contacts” and hearing their fears of the harsh laws. She can’t bring herself to tell her folks, then turns to her brief vacation fling (she had lied to her doctor about her “sexual history”), who’s of no help or support. She begins to neglect her studies as the ticking clock gets louder. Are her literary dreams dashed? And if she can find a “secret provider” could she lose her life by waiting too long?

No matter the relevancy and urgency of any “hot-button” film, its strength lies in the main character. Here the gifted Vartolomei makes Anne more than a mere ‘symbol” for a “movement”. This aspiring writer is the “girl next door” or even your daughter or sibling, trying hard to find a way past her circumstances. Vartolomei shows us Anne’s desperation through her sad, haunted eyes as she hurriedly must decide which person to confide in and who must not be “let in” on her situation. What’s perhaps direr is her spirit nearly “shutting down” as despair squelches that hunger for knowledge. And just as light seems to be cutting through the darkness, Anne is almost swallowed up by agonizing pain and suffering. Ms. Vartolomei proves to be a most formidable young talent. Luckily she’s aided by two other terrific young actresses as her BFFs. Orry-Diquerio delights in shocking the other two, especially as she recreates the “dirty pics’ she found hidden in her family home, yet when she’s told of Anne’s indiscretion her Brigette is horrified and almost prudish. This is the recreation we expect of Bajrami’s Helene, who instead, in a powerful but quiet monologue tells Anne of her own secret affair that could have put her in the same spot. Another powerful performance is given by Pio Marmai as Anne’s tough and challenging mentor/teacher who is perplexed and angered by Anne’s complete attitude change. Also offering support, though with a keen maternal instinct is Sandrine Bonnaire as Anne’s mother, who wants to be her daughter’s lifeline while never allowing Anne to disrespect their family unit.

This subtle, unflinching treatment of what could be a most lurid and exploitive topic is directed with great skill by Audrey Diwan, who also contributed to the screenplay adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Annie Ernaux, along with Marcia Romano, Anne Berset, and Alice Girard. They expertly recreate the repressive late 60s early 60s small-town atmosphere, just a few years away from a huge social revolution. But as the title cards, show the pregnancy’s progression, we see that Anne can’t simply “sit it out” till that enlightened time arrives. The film’s biggest strength may be the depiction of Anne’s utter isolation, as friends push her away and leave just as Anne begins a spiral into panic and torment, which then leads to a choice that could be another ‘station of Hell” as Anne dives into a seedy underground of whispered names and location, along with access to quick funding. As many are hoping to “turn back the clock” on this controversy, Diwan’s work provides a much-needed nostalgic antidote. Those “good ole’ days” were indeed very dark for many, at least when dealing with an impending life-altering HAPPENING.

3.5 Out of 4

HAPPENING is now playing in select theatres everywhere