Directed by Michael Apted Produced by Apted & Claire Lewis Released by First Run Features UK. 144 min. Not rated With 56 Up, the granddaddy of longitudinal documentaries, impressively reaches grandparenthood. Michael Apted’s first job was as a researcher selecting a cross-section of 14 British seven year olds for the 1964 U.K. TV documentary Seven […]

Written & Directed by Tom O’Brien, based on a story by O’Brien & Chris Messina Produced by Massoumeh Emami USA. 81 min. Not rated With Chris Messina, Rich Sommer, Tom O’Brien, Sarah Paulson, Alexie Gilmore, Natalie Gold, Alicia Racine, Maryann Plunkett & Phyllis Kay Long gone are the days when Fairhaven, Massachusetts inspired epic tales […]

With so many end-of-the-year releases garnering awards and nominations, you might ask the various selection committees and critics groups, “Where have you been?” Going over their 10 best lists, some overlap is inevitable, but it’s as if they have had amnesia for 10 months, overlooking many films released before November. And if you had a […]

Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino Produced by Stacy Sher, Reginald Hudlin & Pilar Savone Released by the Weinstein Company USA. 165 min. Rated R With Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Johnson, Walton Goggins, Jonah Hill, Bruce Dern & Franco Nero A filmmaker’s love for his art can […]

Directed by J. A. Bayona Produced by Belén Atienza, Álvaro Augustin, Enrique López-Lavigne & Ghislain Barrois Written by Sergio G. Sánchez Released by Summit Entertainment Spain. 114 min. Rated PG-13 With Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor & Tom Holland The Impossible is promoted as a true story of one family’s harrowing experience during the Indian Ocean […]

Directed & Written by Jay Bulger Produced by Andrew Karsch, Fisher Stevens, Erik H. Gordon & Bulger Released by SnagFilms/Insurgent Media USA. 92 min. Not Rated Beware of Mr. Baker has all the usual ingredients of a typical rock ‘n’ roll Behind the Music bio, though it has lots of surprises and unusual brio, too, […]

Written & Directed by Marshall Lewy Produced by Ross Girard & Mynette Louie Released by Strand Releasing USA. 94 min. Rated R With Robert Carlyle, Alexia Rasmussen, Danny Masterson, William Russ, Kathleen Wilhoite, Michael Des Barnes & A. Martinez Lachlan MacAldonich lives on his own. He works in a farm field, tending the vegetables, and […]

Written, Produced, & Directed by Ken Burns, David McMahon & Sarah Burns Released by Sundance Selects USA. 119 min. Not rated Made by Ken Burns, along with his daughter Sarah and her husband David McMahon, The Central Park Five examines an infamous assault and the wrongful convictions of five teenage boys, while detailing what happens […]

Produced & Directed by Patrick McGrady Released by First Run Features UK. 89 min. Not rated Based on countless movies, the music of Richard Wagner (Hitler’s favorite composer) has a long road ahead to break away from its militaristic bombast and fascist taint. Lina Wertmüller used “Flight of the Valkyries” to accompany a Nazi death […]