Love or Hate: Are the Emmys respectable or irrelevant?

The annual Emmy Awards are rolling around again, with all its requisite surprises and snubs, and a new wave of either outrage or relief is washing over those keeping track of award shows. More important than just who got a nod and who didn’t, however, is the question of whether these kinds of back-patting awards […]

LA Film Festival Reviews: ‘Ernest & Celestine’ and ‘Life of a King’

Saturday brought me to “Ernest & Celestine,” the most adorable children’s movie I’ve seen in, well, ever, and “Life of a King,” a not-at-all cute but equally lesson-oriented film on the true story of Eugene Brown, who started a widely adopted inner-city chess program.   Ernest & Celestine Director: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin […]

LA Film Festival Review: ‘Concussion’ and ‘The Spectacular Now’

Another day at the L.A. Film Festival brings me to remarkable debut film “Concussion,” a subtle, almost European in temperament film about lesbians and transgression, and “The Spectacular Now,” the much anticipated new film by the writers of “500 Days of Summer.” Miraculously, they manage to work the magic of “500 Days” again with “The […]

LA Film Festival Reviews: ‘Casting By’ and ‘Only God Forgives’

The fourth day of my coverage of the LA Film Fest brings me to two very different films: “Casting By,” a fairly by-the-numbers documentary on the unsung heroes (casting directors) of the film industry, and “Only God Forgives,” a purposefully button-pushing gorefest by provocateur Nicholas Winding Refn, working again with “Drive” buddy Ryan Gosling. Casting […]

LA Film Festival Reviews: ‘Europa Report’ and ‘Winter in the Blood’

My third day at the fest brings two not completely satisfying movies: the sci-fi “Prometheus” miniature “Europa Report” and the literary adaptation “Winter in the Blood.” As both were rather uninnovative, I was unimpressed, but depending on your affinity for genre film or literary fiction they could both plausibly please the right crowd. Stay tuned […]