TIFF 2021: Dear Evan Hansen dir. Stephen Chbosky

Mental health. Suicide. Depression. Loss. Grief. Loneliness. These issues are usually trapped in the individual, and though a number of us share in these things, it’s never a shared experience. We are held in the prison of our issues, in a society where social media presentation, the illusion of life being better than it is…

In the Heights (2021) – 4K Review

Musicals, when done right, can be a powerful thing, and Warner Brothers 4K release of In the Heights isn’t just a musical done right, it is joy captured on film, and the images and sound practically pop off the screen in crystal clear celebration. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the music and lyrics for this beautiful film,…

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) – Alejandro G. Inarritu

Micheal Keaton shines in Alejandro Innarritu’s Birdman. He brings a level to his performance that you know is based on personal experience, and delivers an Oscar-nominated virtuoso performance as Riggan Thompson, an actor who walked away from a billion dollar superhero franchise and is now worried about his relevance while being haunted by his past….

Disney’s The Little Mermaid Anniversary Edition: The Signature Collection

The Little Mermaid arguably launched the Disney Renaissance, and it is now thirty years old, and what better way to celebrate it than with an all new Signature Edition bli-ray from Walt Disney. Featuring fantastic songs by Howard Ashman, and Alan Menken, fantastic voice performances, including Jodi Benson, Rene Auberjonois, Buddy Hackett and Samuel E….

Oklahoma! (1955) – Fred Zinnemann

The Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book has brought around to musicals again, and this time, it’s Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! This big budget adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical that opened in 1943 cast Gordon MacRae as the show’s lead Curly and Shirley Jones, as the object of his affections, Laurey. There’s…

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) – Mervyn LeRoy

  The Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book brings me back round to musicals again, and I was quite happy to dig into this 1933 gem that I had heard of, but had never seen. Featuring some wonderful choreography by Busby Berkeley, this had one was a complete delight. Set in the depression,…

The Jazz Singer (1927) – Alan Crosland

  The first ‘talkie,’ is also the first title in the musical section of the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. This was the first time I had seen this one, all I’d known of it before was that at some point, Al Jolson as Jack Robin, previously Jakie Rabinowitz, dons blackface to…