Joanna Kulig as Zula in COLD WAR. Photo by Pawel Pawlikowski. Courtesy of Amazon Studios. – By Cate Marquis – The Oscar-nominated COLD WAR is a brilliant, beautiful film about a passionate romance between two mismatched people, set against the backdrop of communist Poland and the Cold War. Shot in gorgeous black and white, director…
– By Cate Marquis – The Repertory Theater of St. Louis begins the new year with a true winner, a play that seems to have it all: drama, humor, conflict, human warmth, and history with a message for today. ALABAMA STORY, which runs through January 27, is easily the Rep’s best production this season, and…
Melanie Thierry is haunting in French-language MEMOIR OF WAR based on Marguerite Duras’ novel of her experiences in WWII Paris – By Cate Marquis – Melanie Thierry gives a haunting performance in director Emmanuel Finkiel’s finely-crafted MEMOIR OF WAR. This beautiful and powerful French-language drama is an adaptation of Marguerite Duras’ partly-autobiographical novel “The War:…
– By Cate Marquis – PHANTOM THREAD is a beautiful, seductive drama set in the rarefied world of high fashion in 1950s Britain. Director Paul Thomas Anderson re-teams with Daniel Day-Lewis, his star from 2007’s THERE WILL BE BLOOD, for a absorbing tale filled with mystery, danger and romance made more fascinating by Daniel…
– By Cate Marquis – Gary Oldman gives an amazing performance as Winston Churchill in director Joe Wright DARKEST HOUR, a riveting drama about Churchill and the earliest darkest days of World War II, as Britain faced the crisis of Dunkirk and invasion by Hitler loomed. The film is an admirable work, a mix of…
– By Cate Marquis – MENASHE is a heartfelt Yiddish-language drama about a widowed Hasidic Jewish father man trying to regain custody of his son. Director Joshua Weinstein gives us an intriguing glimpse inside New York’s Hasidic community, although it is not always an affectionate one. Still, this is an excellent little film that…
– By Cate Marquis – Director William Oldroyd’s LADY MACBETH is not Shakespeare but it is certainly Shakespearean in its bloody mix of murder and sex. The story is not about Shakespeare’s murderously ambitious character but is based on a 19th century Russian novel, “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” by Nikolai Leskov, inspired…
– By Cate Marquis – Sometimes one role can define an actor’s career. Sam Elliott plays such an actor in late life, facing his own mortality and coming to grips with his life and career, in the sometimes funny, sometimes touching drama THE HERO. THE HERO is an intimate personal drama that draws on universal…
I confess to being predisposed to admire films in which an actress who rose to stardom largely on her beauty dives into a role that seriously downplays, if not obscures, the looks that made her famous. The most stunning conversion along those lines was Charlize Theron’s adopted dumpiness for her Oscar-winning role in Monster. Before…
– By Cate Marquis – MEGAN LEAVEY is a true story-based drama about young woman whose close bond with a dog changes both of their lives. Although the young woman is a Marine serving in Iraq and the dog is her bomb-sniffing teammate, this really is a touching dog story rather than a war story….
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