Brief Encounter: Politely Passionate

Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. Photo: Eagle-Lion The legendary film critic Pauline Kael didn’t seem to care much for this film. Acknowledging it as a “celebrated tearjerker”, she also called…

Closer: Bodies in Motion

Clive Owen, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts and Jude Law. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing Mike Nichols was lauded for turning Tony Kushner’s play “Angels in America” into a great miniseries in…

Amadeus: The Burden of Mediocrity

Tom Hulce. Photo: Orion Pictures Most of us recognize Antonio Salieri’s feelings. He has worked hard to achieve something, got a good education and managed to become court composer to…

Falkenberg Farewell: Avoiding Adulthood

Photo: Memfis Film When this film premiered, I realized that I was probably not the only one in the audience who kept thinking back to the period in life depicted…

Cast Away: Me, Myself & Wilson

Tom Hanks. Photo: 20th Century Fox We’ve all watched too many episodes of Survivor to have a realistic idea of what it would be like to be stranded on a…

The Sopranos: It Runs in the Family

Photo: HBO Writer David Chase once said in an interview that Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas (1990) was his source of inspiration for The Sopranos. It became one of three outstanding TV…

The Practice: Idealism Be Damned

Photo: ABC In 1997, producer and writer David E. Kelley delivered two new TV shows. Fox aired Ally McBeal and ABC got The Practice. The former was the bigger hit,…

Six Feet Under: Death Is the Beginning

Freddy Rodríguez, Mathew St. Patrick, Michael C. Hall, Lauren Ambrose, Frances Conroy, Peter Krause, Richard Jenkins, Rachel Griffiths and Jeremy Sisto. Photo: HBO In the beginning of the series finale,…

Schindler’s List: A Place of Protection

Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley. Photo: Universal In 1993, Schindler’s List was a seminal event, one of those things you simply had to experience. I was in school and every…