Year: 2017
BABY DRIVER film review – by Mark Glass
Don’t judge this slam-bang action flick by its title. “Baby” (Ansel Elgort) is a kid who looks like he’s barely legal behind the wheel, but handles getaway cars like The Transporter series’ Jason Statham’s adolescent clone. The opening chase scene rivals anything Statham or Vin Diesel’s Fast & Furious franchise has served up to their…
BABY DRIVER film review – by Cate Marquis
Writer/director Edgar Wright (SHAUN OF THE DEAD) delivers the kind of summer movie you hope for – action-packed, light, with a bit of humor – in BABY DRIVER. Car chases and a non-stop jukebox music soundtrack help drive this highly entertaining flick, which shares its title with a Simon and Garfunkel song. This delightful summer…
BEATRIZ AT DINNER film review – by Mark Glass
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…
THE MUMMY film review
– By Mark Glass – RATING: 1 out of 5 stars (PG-13) SPOILER ALERT – This review contains plenty, but the film makers deserve them! Reasons not to watch this turkey: 1- Sofia Boutella, who was mesmerizing as the springblade-legged assassin in KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE, is completely wasted in this drab role, despite…
MEGAN LEAVEY film review
– 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….
PAST LIFE – St. Louis Jewish Film Festival – film review
Tuesday, June 6 at 1 PM at Plaza Frontenac Cinema – By Cate Marquis – Two sisters uncover their father’s secret past in the true story-based Israeli mystery PAST LIFE, one of the films playing as part of the annual St. Louis Jewish Film Festival. The Israeli film, in Hebrew, English German and…
KEEP QUIET – St. Louis Jewish Film Festival – film review
Thursday, June 8 at 1 PM at Plaza Frontenac Cinema – By Cate Marquis – The mind-boggling documentary KEEP QUIET is about a far-right, anti-Semitic Hungarian politician who discovers his own hidden Jewish heritage when it is revealed that his beloved grandmother is an Auschwitz survivor. Faced with this new reality, he decides…
A GRAIN OF TRUTH – St. Louis Jewish Film Festival – film review
Wednesday, June 7 at 7 PM Plaza Frontenac Cinema – By Cate Marquis – In the chilling crime thriller A GRAIN OF TRUTH, a hard-nosed prosecutor investigates a murder with bizarre and mysterious trappings, and finds himself immersed in Poland’s antisemitic past, a past that keeps resurfacing despite the modern world. Murder, mystery…
FANNY’S JOURNEY – St. Louis Jewish Film Festival – film review
Sunday, June 4 at 7 PM at Plaza Frontenac Cinema – By Cate Marquis – FANNY’S JOURNEY is a compelling true-story-inspired historical drama about a 13-year-old girl who leads a group of 11 children to safety as they flee the advancing Nazis in World War II France. Directed by Loila Doillon, it is…
2017 annual St. Louis Jewish Film Festival, June 4-8, offers “A Global Film Feast”
– By Cate Marquis – The 22nd annual St. Louis Jewish Film Festival takes place June 4-8 at Landmark Plaza Frontenac Cinema. With 16 films from from nine countries, it is truly “A Global Film Feast.” The festival has seven narrative features and nine documentaries. Features include comedies, true-story dramas, mysteries and thrillers. The…