Author: catemarquis
THE SEAGULL film review
Anton Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL is great material for a first-rate film. Director Michael Mayer’s screen adaptation of Chekhov’s 1896 play is a visually lovely production with a top-tier cast with wonderful locations, sets and costumes. “The Seagull”was the first of Chekhov’s four great plays, a work full of human meaning, and one of the great…
RBG film review
– By Cate Marquis – RBG is a delightful, inspiring documentary on Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the Notorious RBG, giving us the backstory of the 84-year-old Supreme Court justice who has become a pop culture icon. Long before she became known as the Notorious RBG, Ginsberg was a brilliant legal mind who was a courtroom ground-breaker in…
ON CHESIL BEACH film review
– By Cate Marquis – The heartbreaking romantic drama ON CHESIL BEACH stars Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle as a young couple in the early 1960s, whose marriage feels the impact that the sexual attitudes of a time period can have on love. Based on Ian McEwan’s 2007 Booker Prize-winning novella. McEwan also wrote the…
DEADPOOL 2 film review
**** (out of 5) stars – (R) – By Mark Glass – The first film about this Marvel Comics superhero (of sorts) is one of my all-time favorite action comedies. Ryan Reynolds – not known for acting as much as hunkiness – found the perfect role, allowing him to be physical, hilarious, and self-satirical, wrapped…
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at Fox theater review
– By Cate Marquis – “The Phantom of the Opera,” Andrew Lloyd Weber’s legendary hit musical, returns to the Fox Theater May 9-20. This version is a bit different than the classic fans know, a newly burnished production from Cameron Mackintosh. The effects were buffed up, along with the chandelier and the characters have a…
DISOBEDIENCE film review
– By Cate Marquis – In DISOBEDIENCE, Rachel Weisz stars as a woman who returns to her Orthodox Jewish community in London for the funeral of her father, a revered rabbi. Years earlier, Ronit (Weisz) had left the community she had grown up in, forced out over a sexual attraction to another girl, Esti (Rachel…
SUPER TROOPERS 2 film review
– By Mark Glass – RATING: 3 out of 5 stars (R) As a reminder, my ratings aren’t always about the overall artistic merit of the covered film. In the case of intentionally dumb, gross comedies like this, or other niche fare, I tend to award stars on how good a job they do in…
BEIRUT film review
– By Cate Marquis – Jon Hamm shines in political thriller “Beirut” Jon Hamm finally gets the leading man role he has long deserved, in the Middle East-set thriller BEIRUT. It should have happened long ago for the former St. Louisan, based on his unforgettable turn in MAD MEN, if nothing else. Hamm is excellent…
HAMILTON theater review
– By Cate Marquis – ‘Hamilton’ is everything you could wish for – except Lin-Manuel Miranda Sometimes the hype exceeds the real thing but that is not the case for “Hamilton.” The highly anticipated Broadway tour delivers on all expectations. The only thing that could have made it better would be having creator Lin…
1945 film review – by Mark Glass
– By Mark Glass – This subtitled Hungarian drama is highly reminiscent of one of Spencer Tracy’s Oscar-nominated outings, “Bad Day at Black Rock.” When a stranger comes to a small town, people start assuming he’s got a worrisome agenda, and they start scrambling to cover their guilty secrets. In this case, the small town…