Backstage Pass

The award-winning TV series “The Bear” is rated (TV-MA), which means for (mature) audiences, it’s streaming on Hulu. Jeremy Allen White (“Shameless” 2011-2021) is ‘the Bear’ he’s a young top Michelin star chef who returns home to Chicago to help in his deceased brother’s Italian beef sandwich shop. The restaurant…

Are you looking for an uplifting film? “80 for Brady,” starring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field, is your winning ticket. The movie is based on a true story of a woman approaching her 90th birthday who wanted to see Tom Brady play football in person. She…

It’s always a treat to have a new TV series that’s entertaining and, in this case, just plain fun. “Poker Face” streaming on Peacock is by the renowned writer/director from the creator of the “Knives Out” films, Rian Johnson. Meet the new Columbo, ‘her’ name is Charlie Cale, played by…

The Sundance Film Festival, located in Park City, Utah, is the largest independent film festival in the United States. Having covered it remotely for the last three years, I was anxious to attend in person. The festival started on January 19 and concluded on January 29. I arrived the day…

The best thing a film can try to do is shift through the impression that everything is a foregone conclusion, thus leaving viewers without any possibilities. “A Man Called Otto” starring Tom Hanks as Otto does just that, a depressed, suicidal elderly man who wants to end his life and…

Oscar nominated screenwriter Sarah Polley serves as screenplay writer and director of a horrific story based on true events in a Mennonite community in Bolivia. Polley adapted the film set in 2010 from the best-selling novel “Women Talking” by Miriam Toews. The actual shocking events involved 151 women and girls…

  “Avatar: The Way of Water” opens this weekend! Do you remember viewing “Avatar” in December of 2009? I sure do; in fact, I saw it three times at the IMAX theater. My reaction was similar to seeing “Star Wars” for the first time. Here’s my “Avatar” film review posted…

\ Without a doubt, Season 3 of “Emily in Paris” is the best yet! I’ve championed the series from the beginning, as all the characters are cast perfectly in their roles—however, they all, including Emily (Lily Collins), needed depth and an interesting storyline. Season 3 focuses on Paris’s main attraction,…

“Devotion” is a biographical war film that takes place in 1950 and is based on the 2015 best-selling book “Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism Friendship, and Sacrifice” by Adam Makos. The story centers on two US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Jonathan Majors portrays Jesse Brown, and…

Yes, Daniel Craig is back as the world’s greatest detective Benoit Blanc in the second hysterically comical mystery. The new “Knives Out” adventure showcases the fearless detective at a lavish private estate on a Greek island, but how and why he comes to be there is only the first of…