Movie Reviews

The movie tells the story of a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo, one of the cleanest cities in the world.

Miyazaki’s unique work is imaginative and filled with beautiful imagery, but his stories also have great emotional depth, usually from the point of view of children.

It’s a typically irreverent joke in a movie that is a mixture of a rom-com and a more serious look at how Israelis deal with prejudice and the past, which is now playing in theaters.

Irena’s Vow gives us a look into the life of the kind of person we all hope we would be if we found ourselves tested like this.

Were the narrator who tells the story in the framing device anyone other than the incomparable Helen Mirren, White Bird wouldn’t have worked nearly as well as it does. 

Farewell Column, set about three years ago, tells the story of Karmi, a political columnist who has offended some very thuggish people with a column criticizing the Netanyahu government.

Luc Besson is a born storyteller and his films, including DogMan, are undeniably entertaining. He knows how to pick actors with great presence. 

Recreating the East Village of decades ago will be fun for adult viewers, but not for the vast majority of children, so ignore how appealing this movie looks on the poster and don’t bring your kids.

For all its virtues, The Holdovers invites unfortunate comparisons to the ne plus ultra of teacher-student bonding movies, Wonder Boys.

If you can flow with the feelings behind the movie and see it as a well-observed version of the psyche of a fragile and traumatized child, you will find much to enjoy.