By Douglas Gruehl
I started at age 5 with a HUGE hating of the movie Fantasia and from then on went on to critique everything I saw - I was always wondering what the hype was about Gone WithThe Wind and Wizard of Oz and especially Citizen Kane. Was enthralled with Saratoga, It Happened One Night, and Sunset Boulevard. And here I am now!
46 articles published
Wolfs? Hmm, Wolves? Hmm, Do I care?
You just want to love that Clooney and Pitt are back together again with their charisma, charm and talent. OK, you really want to and should love it, but, alas and alack, there really is no there there. We start with the very talented Amy Ryan delivering what we expect to be a central […]
A Gentleman in Moscow – Triumph over Adversity
Paramount+ scores a perfect 10 out of 10 with its brilliant A Gentleman in Moscow, starring the wonderfully talented Ewan McGregor. In his role as Count Alexander Rostov, the unrepentant aristocrat sentenced to life imprisonment under house arrest in the grand Metropol Hotel by the Bolsheviks, he is at once witty, cunning, charming, deceitful, industrious […]
The Fall Guy or How Film Editing Failed
OMG, David Leitch’s The Fall Guy is SO SO long, it is painful. Do we blame the editor, who should have recognized the incredibly repetitive scenes, or the director, who insisted on the final cut? The 2 hours and 6 minutes could easily have been encapsulated into a mere 90 minutes of glorious fast-action stunts, […]
Elsbeth is Columbo in a Skirt
Carrie Preston in the new show “Elsbeth” starring as lawyer turned super sleuth Elsbeth Tascioni is nothing short of brilliant as the 2024 version of Columbo but in a skirt and with a plethora of shopping bags in lieu of a dirty trench coat. (you just have to love a run-on sentence – LOL) We […]
Killers of the Flower Moon? More like Killers of the Hours
OMG could Martin Scorcese get himself an editor? And I am asking politely. Three hours and 26 minutes to tell this primary story of greed, corruption and betrayal is, IMHO, 30-45 minutes too long. True, there are numerous subplots, but really Martin? Your viewing audience is not dense. Once you have established a fact, let’s […]
RUSTIN shines a spotlight on our prejudices
Director George C. Wolfe brings “Rustin” to life with grace and ease as he tackles what for all should be a harsh reminder of the cruelty and prejudice rampant during the advent of the civil rights movement. This could not have been accomplished without the brilliant casting of Colman Domingo as the title character, Bayard […]
Maestro – So Not A Symphony!
You have to give Bradley Cooper kudos for attempting to tell the story of the iconic legend Leonard Berstein and for directing himself, but, alas this film is not a symphony and barely equates to a concerto. At times Bradley brilliantly channels the legend without falling into the oft performance miring genre of parody but […]
Anatomy of a Fall or Was It Colonel Mustard in the Snowbank?
Is Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” a courtroom thriller, a dramatic psychological study, or both, or simply a “true-crime whodunit” with all the twists and turns inherent in that genre? With the backdrop of Sandra Hüller’s all-consuming and brilliant portrayal of the main character Sandra, it is close to impossible to decide. She brings […]
American Fiction? No. 5 Star American Fact!
Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction interpretation of Percival Everett’s novel “Erasure” is a brilliant study of how to deftly bring a storyline to life with a subtle and even-handed approach. He masterfully develops this story of inherent hypocrisy within the publishing arena while balancing a myriad of subplots and characters. Jeffrey Wright absolutely shines as the […]
Ferrari – Director Michael Mann is back!
Michael Mann’s latest endeavor, Ferrari, is a wonderful homage to the late racing and car industry giant. Through his deft handling of what was an extraordinarily messy (or should I say dysfunctional?) private life, Mann delivers a compelling biographical sports drama focused on the man, not the car or the racing. For those going in expecting a […]
Poor Things or how I survived a Salvador Dali LSD trip!
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would leave a movie theatre thinking I had just taken an LSD trip or been a player in a Salvador Dali nightmare. Poor Things was certainly that and a lot more. NO, this is NOT a negative as I certainly give this film a more […]
Boys in the Boat is Chariots of Fire on the water!
George Clooney’s direction of Daniel James Brown’s novel, Boys in the Boat delivers an impassioned view of the journey leading to the quest for gold at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The film focuses on the yeoman service of the University of Washinton’s men’s rowing team ably portrayed by a vast number of actors who […]
