Cinema
Films showing in the St. Louis region
EVERYBODY KNOWS film review
– By Cate Marquis – Penelope Cruz plays a Spanish-born woman who returns with her two children to the rural Spanish village where she grew up for her younger sister’s wedding. Among those who greet her are her childhood friend Paco (Javier Bardem), now the owner of a successful vineyard and winery. But this joyful…
ARCTIC film review
– By Cate Marquis - The Arctic is among the most extreme environments found on earth, at the limits of where mankind can survive. The film ARCTIC focuses on one man marooned in that environment, spinning a deeply human tale of survival in the harshest of wildernesses. The drama/thriller is also a tour-de-force performance by…
COLD WAR film review
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…
2019 Oscar nominations
The 2019 Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. Leading the nominations count were “Roma” and “The Favourite” with 10 nominations each, followed by 8 for both “Vice” and “A Star Is Born,” 7 for “Black Panther, 6 for “BlacKkKlansman,” and 5 for both “Green Book” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The 91st Academy Awards ceremony…
DESTROYER film review
Nicole Kidman stars as Erin Bell in Karyn Kusama’s DESTROYER, an Annapurna Pictures release. – By Cate Marquis – This is not how we are used to seeing Nicole Kidman. Kidman plays snarling, violent, even grizzled Los Angeles police detective bent on vengeance, in the gritty crime thriller DESTROYER. Kidman also plays a younger, more…
MARIA BY CALLAS – film review by Cate Marquis
– By Cate Marquis – RATING: 4 out of 5 stars In many ways, American-born soprano Maria Callas’ life was operatic, with plenty of triumph and tragedy. Early in MARIA BY CALLAS, we see Maria Callas being interviewed by television host David Frost, as she describes her life being divided into two parts, a professional…
WILDLIFE – film review by Mark Glass
– By Mark Glass – RATING: 2 out of 5 stars (PG-13) If the holidays start bumming you out over your family issues, this dour little drama might make you fell a little better… by comparison. Jake Gyllenhaal is the dad; a nice guy who never seems to find a job that feels right. The…
INSTANT FAMILY – film review by Mark Glass
– By Mark Glass – RATING: 3½ out of 5 stars (PG-13) First of all, ignore the trailers you may have seen on TV or the internet. There is more drama and less comedy in this mix that those selected snippets might portend. That makes this a more unique and superior slice of family entertainment….
BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS – film review by Cate Marquis
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars Joel and Ethan Coen spin not one but six Western tales in their excellent anthology THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS. Starring a fine cast including James Franco, Liam Neeson, Tom Waits, Zoe Kazan, Brendan Gleeson, Tim Blake Nelson and others, the film’s title is actually the name of the…
JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES BACK – film review by Mark Glass
– By Mark Glass – RATING: 3½ out of 5 stars (PG) Although I’ve been a HUUUGE Rowan Atkinson fan for many years, his first two feature films as this eponymous bumbling British superspy did little for the level of his esteem. His Mr. Bean antics were superb. His various incarnations of “Blackadder” for…