December brings to cinemaphiles its usual array of big rep films. Most this year are over-hyped and overblown. Marketing can get us in the theater but can’t make us love one. I use a 5-finger (high-five) rating system where 5 is outstanding, 4 very good and worth seeing, 3 is mediocre, with 2 not worth […]

As temperatures chill the movie business heats up and this year is no exception. This is “actor and Oscar season,” when better films feed into theaters across the nation. These seven films are all playing now and one in particular — Whiplash — is outstanding. I use a “5 finger” scoring system, with 5 being […]

I write screenplays and rarely watch TV but love to go the movies for a very simple reason: All is possible inside a dark theater. In late summer our local cinemas show little films, niche releases, foreign imports, and blow-’em-up, smash ’em up big budget action films. Viewers should be choosy: the pickings is a […]