Screens and Streams
12
Stories
2
Writers
‘Yule Log 2: Branching Out’ and ‘Dear Santa’: Two lumps of coal for your movie stockings
December 18, 2024
In keeping with the spirit of the holiday season, I found it only fitting to review some current holiday film offerings. The biggest holiday movie offering of the season, at least in terms of cast and Hollywood budget expenditures, is the Rock vehicle “Red One.” It’s streaming now on Amazon Prime after a less-than-stellar box…
‘Emilia Pérez’ aims high but doesn’t quite reach the top
December 11, 2024
Jacques Audiard’s musical thriller can’t achieve its lofty ambitions but still offers more than most films Acclaimed French film director Jacques Audiard delivered one of the best crime films of the past 20 years in 2009’s “A Prophet.” Audiard returns to the crime world once more, but this time, he travels from the French prison…
‘Conclave’: The peculiar and political process of picking a pope
December 4, 2024
By James Kent Catholicism and its many mysteries and secret rituals are on full display in “Conclave” (in theaters and on-demand.) The pope is dead. And the process of transferring the powers of God from one human vessel to another begins. Depending on one’s faith and knowledge of the subject, that process, the subject of…
‘Wicked’ provides fine entertainment for the holidays
November 27, 2024
“Wicked,” the global musical sensation based on author Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, arrives in theaters some 20 years after its Broadway debut. Even if you haven’t seen the musical, you know about it, and chances are, you knew this movie was coming out around Thanksgiving. It would be near impossible not to know because the…
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‘Warren Miller’s 75’
November 27, 2024
The Town Hall theater in Middlebury was the happening scene for ski and snowboard enthusiasts of all ages on Wednesday, Nov. 20, for a special roadshow screening of “Warren Miller’s 75.” Now, if you’re like me-a person who gets queasy the moment I step off a ski lift, or if the mere mention of the…
‘A Different Man’ exposes the masks we wear on the inside
November 20, 2024
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about “The Apprentice,” where actor Sebastian Stan had to put on the mask of an egomaniac for two hours. Here I am, a couple of weeks later, reviewing another film where Sebastian Stan has to wear a mask of sorts. This time around, the film, "A Different Man,"…
‘Anora’ deconstructs the Cinderella narrative
November 13, 2024
By James Kent Anora is an exotic dancer at a Manhattan strip club. She dabbles in sex work on the side if the money’s right, and she’s interested enough in the man. At the club, she meets a young, immature son of a Russian oligarch. Anora, who goes by Ani, gets the assignment because she…
‘The Apprentice’ is a half-brilliant take on DJT, the early years
November 6, 2024
There is a moment that comes in the second half of Iranian film director Ali Abbasi’s film, “The Apprentice,” or as I call it, “Trump: The Prequel,” where Donald Trump, played by actor Sebastian Stan, has his manhood called into question by his wife Ivana, played by Maria Bakalova. The Don, hopped up on too…
‘Lee’ offers snapshots instead of a complete picture
October 30, 2024
Ellen Kuras’ film reminds that someone higher up holds the strings to freedom of the press. This past week, two billionaires, who also own two of the most influential newspapers in the United States, showed that money can buy many things, but it can’t buy courage. The Washington Post’s motto is “Democracy Dies in the…
In ‘The Substance,’ beauty is in the eye(s) of the beholder(s)
October 23, 2024
Satirical horror is back in a big way with “The Substance” Those lamenting the death of cinema need only know where to look for its rebirth. In the 1960s, when Hollywood lost touch with the tastes of a changing audience, filmgoers searching for the daring, the new, and the fresh turned their eyes to international…
Vince Vaughn provides a good time in ‘Bad Monkey’
October 17, 2024
Fans of Vince Vaughn who’ve been waiting to see him flex his rapid-fire comedic muscles in a worthwhile venture can rejoice. The Vaughn we’ve longed to see, from his breakout role in “Swingers” to his scene-stealing role in “Wedding Crashers,” is on full display in Apple +’s new series, “Bad Monkey.” In this hopefully not…
Screens & Streams: Joker Duex is everything but a crowd-pleaser
October 9, 2024
Arthur Fleck is all out of jokes in Todd Phillip’s dark but brilliant follow-up to 2019’s smash hit
