by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent Don’t you love hearing about a Hollywood party after it happens? Oh wait, an afterparty, after it happens? C’mon, saves you time and a hangover. Meanwhile last night was the LA premiere of DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT from Amazon Studios, a curious biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix that opens July 13. Jack Black and glasses, Joaquin Phoenix and cigarette during, not after, the afterparty This adapted screen story...

Siraj Syed reviews Lion: Soaring emotions, roaring cinema Lion is the tale of mothers and sons, brothers and sisters, separation and unification, brimming with humanity, and yet not fighting shy of tilting the camera down, to capture the grim realities of crime and perversion in a cruel and miserable world. All those who frown upon technology as the bane of the 21st century, here’s a glorious tribute to the great service it can and is meant to render, and does, as evidenced in the film....

It happens around Christmas, so Carol is the quite the name of the season. Yes, there is snow and Christmas trees and gifts, but Carol is no innocent Santa Claus tale. Rather, it is an exquisitely woven love story, between two women. We can call them lesbians today, without looking over the shoulder, but when Patricia Highsmith wrote the novel, in Senator McCarthy’s America of the early 1950s, a time of witch-hunting, the term would surely invite wrath. Sixty-four years later, there are ...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent Raise your hand if you saw Al Pacino in "Danny Collins." Raise your hand if you saw Al Pacino in "Danny Collins" and actually liked it. Okay, kidding aside, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced their nominations today at 5:15 am PST, which left a few of us critics cranky. But not without the usual clear-eyed objections to the Golden Globes' mash-up of categories. Is "Joy" a comedy? Is "T...

By Maria Esteves – November 16, 2015 The 53rd New York Film Festival Premiere of CAROL, directed by Todd Haynes. Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy commenced Friday, October 9, 2015 at Alice Tully Hall, New York. Red carpet arrivals included director Todd Haynes, actress Rooney Mara, two-time Academy Award winning actress Cate Blanchett, American composer Carter Burwell, screenwriter Phyllis Nagy, producer Christine Vachon, producer Elizabeth Karlsen, Edith “Edie” Windsor, American co...

Pan, Review: Flying Pantasy Once you pick up a hundred year-old children’s story and decide to invent its unwritten prequel, 3D and CGI are obvious choices. Yes, you could go overboard on both counts, but so long as you have packed it with a generous dose of thrills, and given it break-neck pace, you can make a fantasy both exciting and interesting. Pan offers above par performances, not so common in fairy-tales, mounts a huge canvas and makes sweeping brush-strokes. There are issues ab...

  Ain't Them Bodies Saints By Moira Sullivan.  David Lowery, Rooney Mara, and Casey Affleck - Photo Courtesy of Getty Images On day five, La Semaine de la Critique featured David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints with Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. The introduction given by the organizers impressed even the director. Less impressive was the film, with a story that has been done before: an outlaw d...