March 03, 2018

Saturday movie review: Last Flag Flying

March 03, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

When I covered the Denver Film Festival last November, one of the movies I was especially excited about seeing was the drama/comedy LAST FLAG FLYING, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Steve Carrel, Bryan Cranston, and Laurence Fishbourne. The trailers convinced me the road trip movie featuring the oft-comic cast as vets on a mission would be laugh-out-loud funny with a few touching scenes scattered throughout and a sure highlight of my festival experience.

Unfortunately I didn't see LAST FLAG FLYING at the festival. The movie was among the most popular and sold out quickly, so my husband and I missed out.

We hit the jackpot last week, though, when LAST FLAG FLYING hit the top of my Netflix queue. It took mere minutes after starting the DVD for my assumptions about the film to be flipped as it immediately proved...

January 06, 2018

Saturday movie review: The Greatest Showman

January 06, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

Though I've never seen one on Broadway, Broadway musicals are by far my favorite form of entertainment. Despite living 1,777 miles from the bright lights of New York City, I've had the privilege of seeing several shows by national touring groups on their stops in Denver (The Who's Tommy being my forever fave... so far).

I've found nothing more magical nor moving as experiencing the spectacular sights and sounds of a well-produced and passionately performed musical. No concert I've ever attended has compared. No movie I've seen has come close to affecting me like a live musical production.

Until, that is, I saw THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, which Jim and I went to see New Year's Eve afternoon.

December 02, 2017

Saturday movie review: Big Sonia

December 02, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

What the world needs now is love. And tolerance and acceptance and BIG SONIA — both the film as well as Sonia Warshawski on whom the film is based.

Ninety-one-year-old Sonia Warshawski is a Holocaust survivor. She was an eye-witness to genocide, the victim of horrors unknown to all but those who lived and died in concentration camps, one who miraculously made it through six years of hell to the unforgettable day of liberation by allied forces.

October 21, 2017

Saturday movie review: The Bachelors

October 21, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Coming-of-age films — one of my favorite movie genres — relate a character's transition from childhood to adulthood. Many times, the death of a loved one precipitates the maturing of the young guy or gal featured in the film.

I'd like to propose another category of film: coming-to-terms films. Like coming-age-films, the storyline of coming-to-terms tales feature a person dealing with the death of a loved one. Difference being, though, that the character is far beyond childhood or adolescence coming-of-age doesn't accurately describe the emotional transformation of the guy or gal.

For the purposes of reviewing the dramedy THE BACHELORS, let's just say coming-to-terms films is indeed a recognized film category. Because that's...

October 14, 2017

Saturday movie review: Only The Brave

October 14, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Prepare to cry when watching ONLY THE BRAVE, the movie based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite team of wildland firefighters that battled the deadly Yarnell Hill (Arizona) fire in 2013. I shed tears, my daughter teared up, my husband did as well. Even Josh Brolin cried.

Brolin, who stars as Eric Marsh, the superintendent and founder of the Granite Mountain Hotshots team of 20, had no qualms about admitting so during a recent interview session I participated in with him, Jennifer Connelly who plays Eric's wife, Amanda Marsh; James Badge Dale who portrays Jesse Steed, captain of the Granite Mountain Hotshots; and Miles Teller who stars as Brendan "Donut" McDonough, a late yet pivotal addition to the hotshot team.

"It's a tough story," Brolin said. Not just because of...

October 07, 2017

Saturday movie review: Absolutely Anything

October 07, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

The 2015 British comedy ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING is absolutely ridiculous, absolutely odd, and absolutely unbelievable.

Which is what makes it an absolutely perfect escape film. The spoof on science fiction films features an amusing and uplifting alternate reality sure to appeal to anyone seeking a break from our real-world reality that's neither amusing or uplifting of late. Especially appealing for fans of Simon Pegg, the Monty Python crew, and Robin Williams, all who have

September 16, 2017

Saturday movie review: Wind River

September 16, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Moviegoers who like the Netflix series Longmire are sure to be intrigued by the film WIND RIVER as the two have much in common. Both are set in Wyoming, where the unforgiving terrain plays as much a part as the humans who live there and the plentiful Native American reservations throughout the region generate racial tensions many unfamiliar with Wyoming may not realize exist.

Wind River

In both the series and the movie, interaction between residents of a reservation and the "white" people living near the reservation is key to the story. Both have similar themes and characters (even a few of the same actors, as I mention below). Both have storylines highlighting the underlying distrust between Native Americans and townsfolk as well as the differences in how criminal justice is served — or not — on the rez and off. Characters of the series and the film include good guys and bad guys on both sides, folks who...

July 01, 2017

Saturday movie briefs and reviews: Summer intermission

July 01, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

movie review intermission

As I, like most folks, am spending more time outside than in front of screens of any sort or size during the summer months, I'm here to let you know I will not be posting Saturday movie reviews nor Saturday movie briefs throughout the summer.

I will return after Labor Day, though. And in the meantime, if you find yourself seeking movie recommendations of varied sorts, please scroll through my archives of Saturday movie reviews.

Cheers, dear movie-loving grandmothers and others! And cheers to making the most of our far too few summer Saturdays!

June 10, 2017

Saturday movie review: A United Kingdom

June 10, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Many of us common folk — those of us who have no royal blood running through our veins — consider the lives of kings and queens, princes and their princesses charmed existences. Perhaps most especially when it comes to love, romance, and fulfilling one's heart's desire with a special someone.

The reality, though, as we have learned from Princess Diana's unforgettable (and often sensationalized) story, The Crown series on Netflix, and other dramatic depictions based on true tales of royal romances make it clear such stations in life may be more of a royal pain — particularly when it comes to love and romance.

A United Kingdom film

A UNITED KINGDOM is the most recent film I've seen on the plight of one's allegiance to a crown...

April 29, 2017

Saturday movie review: Hunt for the Wilderpeople

April 29, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

As I sat down to write my movie review on the HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE, a New Zealand adventure/comedy/drama starring Sam Neill and Julian Dennison that premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, a few choice words came to mind. Rather than attempt to deftly weave those words throughout my review, I'll just lay them on the line right here, right up front.

Choice words for HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE:

offbeat • poignant • outrageous • hilarious • sweet • silly • memorable • coming of age • wacky • well done • charming • delightfully deadpan • madcap • touching • must-see

hunt for the wilderpeople

HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE ("wilderpeople" being a twist on "wildebeest") is one of those films that flew so below the radar that finding it — after seeing Sam Neill interviewed on...