Currently Browsing: Richard Bayard Miller
Wonderful new film by Jim Jarmusch finds great interior drama in the quiet story of one week in the life of a Peterson, New Jersey bus driver named Paterson who is played by an actor named Driver!
“Paterson” (Adam Driver) is a man of fixed routines. Without ever setting an alarm clock, he gets up at the same time every morning, eases himself from the arms of his wife “Laura” (Goldhifteh Farahani), eats a bowl of cereal, and heads off to work as a municipal bus driver.… read more.
In his new film Michael Moore in Trumpland, the cinematic gadfly asks himself a really important question: “Since Hillary Clinton has always supported MY work, why have I done so little (so far) to support HER as a Presidential candidate?” Great Question, MM!!!
The film ends with an exhilarating imagining of all the genuinely Progressive things a President Hillary Clinton will if she wins on 11/8/16.… read more.
Stunningly effective drama about the very real effects of the 2008 recession/housing crisis on ordinary Americans. Set in Orlando, Florida = one of the most hard-hit states. (JLH: 5/5. RBM: 4.5/5.)
Rave by Managing Editor Jan Lisa Huttner
Can there be higher praise in 2015 than to turn to one’s partner as the credits roll and whisper: “I feel like I just saw the sequel to The Godfather Part II — the real Part II!”… read more.
Split Decision: Jan loved this gentle dramedy about a widow who allows life to enter her well-ordered schedule twenty years after the death of her husband. Rich found it “sweet,” but no more. (JLH: 4/5. RBM: 3/5.)
When we first meet “Carol Petersen” (Blythe Danner) she is living a well-order life in a comfortable home, amply provided for by a husband who died almost twenty years before.… read more.
New Alex Gibney BioDoc Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine walks tediously though all the highlights of JobsMania for over two hours without providing much illumination. Both the man and his times remain elusive. (JLH: 3/5. RBM: 3/5.)… read more.
Superlative new film from China directed by Yimou Zhang. Screenplay by Jingzhi Zou based on a novel by Geling Yan. (JLH: 4.5/5. RBM 4.5/5.)
Li Gong and Daoming Chen star as an educated couple trapped by Mao’s Cultural Revolution. She is a teacher and he is a professor, and they live in a small comfortable apartment filled with books.… read more.