Posted inArts & Entertainment
Stronger: Ordinary man, extraordinary courage
Jake Gyllenhaal is Jeff Bauman, the living embodiment of “Boston Strong.”
Ben Wiley
%{[ data-embed-type="image" data-embed-id="59a99bae38ab46e8230492c5" data-embed-element="span" data-embed-size="640w" contenteditable="false" ]}%Ben Wiley is a retired professor of FILM and LITERATURE at St. Petersburg College. He also was on staff in the Study Abroad Office at University of South Florida as statewide Director of the Florida Consortium/University of Cambridge (UK) International Summer Schools. His interests are in film, books, theatre, travel, literacy programs, and kayaking Florida rivers. Contact him here: CinemaBen@outlook.com.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Kingsman: The Golden Circle — Tarnished with bad case of sequelitus
The star-studded comic-book installation is all sound (and sight) and fury, signifying nothing.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Beach Rats: A haunting coming-of-age film of closeted self-denial
Wrestling with the demons of sexual repression.
Posted inFood & Drink
The Trip to Spain is a bromance with paella and pintxos
It’s a deliciously deadpan and devilish comedy.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Rat Film: A rodent documentary that’s both gross and engrossing
Rats and racism in Baltimore.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Menashe: Faith and fatherhood in conflict
Humane and tender film about a schlub and schlemiel.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Fall Arts Preview 2017: Films to watch for
Sequels, originals, supernovas, gems and bombs.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Total eclipse of the arts: Seven films to get you in a solar mood
You can look directly at these.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Hero: Aging film cowboy searches for redemption
90 minutes of lanky, grizzled and drawling.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Beatriz at Dinner is a clash between haves and have nots
Ugly white privilege has met its match, at least for the moment.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
My Cousin Rachel: A period thriller about sex, power, mystery
A mysterious stranger brings desire and suspicion.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Movie Review: True story, true emotion in Megan Leavey
The feelgood movie of the summer is a combat biopic?!?
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Lovers: A squirmy, awkward look at marital fatigue.
How can we say so much without words?
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A Quiet Passion: A lyrical and transcendent film about Emily Dickinson
Sublime poet, sublime poetry, sublime film.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Wall: A taut, tight combat thriller
Tormented by a faceless, though not voiceless, enemy.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Dinner as dark psychological thriller and family showdown
A toast to our wives, children, health, and getting through this dinner in one piece.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Promise: Less-than-satisfying paint-by-numbers take on the Armenian Genocide
Film teases with significance but falls short
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Student: Addicted to religion — a cautionary tale for our time
A brilliant dark beast of a Russian film.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Lost City of Z: An adventure of epic proportion
A man, a plan, an obsession, Amazon (Brazil, not Bezos).
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Haunted by what might have been: François Ozon’s Frantz conjures loss and shame in post-WWI France
A mysterious stranger and a son lost to war in an affecting film set in post-WWI France.