A lifelong theater and film lover who's excited to share his love of both mediums
It’s a gutsy move to include “Puttin’ on the Ritz” in a new Frankenstein movie since it’s so closely associated with Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein. But like many of the bets in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride, it pays off. The film transposes the story of the Bride
Blizzards and bitter cold kept me away from Broadway for several weeks, but I came back to an absolute gem. While I’m all for theatrical glitz, there’s nothing like a well-told story. Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) is exactly that. The deceptively simple premise
Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s a common theme, and two recent movies take it to both dramatic and comedic places. Dead Man’s Wire Fans of gritty 70s crime films like Dog Day Afternoon will find a lot to like in Dead Man’s Wire, a tense
Although it deals with artificial intelligence, Marjorie Prime has a deep humanity that will resonate with anyone who’s cared for an aging relative. Set in the near future, Jordan Harrison’s play focuses on Marjorie (June Squibb), an older woman with dementia. To help jog her memory, her conflicted
Happy New Year! As we turn the page on 2025 (a week late in my case due to illness), I wanted to share my favorite film, theatre, and TV of the year. All 12 of them (listed alphabetically) are well worth your time. Happy viewing! Black Bag This twisty thriller
This Christmas week, I’m sharing a Grinch-like opinion: most Hollywood blockbusters bore me. Marvel movies feel like homework, and I literally fell asleep during a Transformers flick. There are some exceptions: The Quiet Place movies scratch my jump scare itch, and the Planet of the Apes films are
One of this year’s leading Oscar contenders, Hamnet powerfully shows how art can heal. The film traces the love story of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, who’s dogged by rumors that she’s the daughter of a forest witch. Regardless, the couple marries and raises three children,
Two pieces of art tackle the passage of time, one haphazardly and one brilliantly. This World of Tomorrow Tom Hanks is one of our great actors, but he’s developed some literary pursuits as well. In his latest venture, This World of Tomorrow, he adapts several of his short stories
Writer-director Rian Johnson weaves another layered mystery in Wake Up Dead Man, the latest Knives Out film. This time, the action takes place at an upstate New York church led by the fiery Msgr. Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), who even the bishop says is “a few beads short of
As the saying goes, if it’s not one thing, it’s your mother. That’s never been truer than in Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Oedipus, in which the title character kills his father and marries his mother. The current Broadway revival, adapted and directed by Robert Icke, sets the story
In the last week, I saw two works that dealt with similar issues, so it seemed fitting to combine them. 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 The prologue of this Netflix miniseries asks, “Who the f-ck is Charles Guiteau?” The short answer is that he’s a presidential assassin, but there’s much more to
One of my least favorite criticisms lobbed at movies is “stagy.” Just because a film takes place in one location doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy than a big Hollywood blockbuster. Some of my favorite movies, like Doubt and Fences, fit the “stagy” description. While Blue Moon isn’