Todd Haynes has directed a thorough and entertaining film about The Velvet Underground, the sixties rock band that was managed by Andy Warhol and headlined by Lou Reed.

Haynes, whose film was produced by Christine Vachon (theirs being a successful collab over the last twenty years), cuts scenes from live shows with talking heads and occasionally layers

The 74th Cannes Festival opened with a very unusual film on Tuesday, one that is slated to compete for the Palme D’Or, the top prize which this year will be given out by a jury headed by Spike Lee: “Annette,” by one Alex Christophe Dupont, otherwise known as Leos Carax (full disclosure: I haven’t read any of the press material for the film, on purpose, I wanted to soak up in the film’s energy. As it were, there’s little in the way of easily

The same summer that a largely white, middle- and upper-class group of students descended upon Woodstock, N.Y. for a mammoth concert like no other the Harlem Cultural Festival was taking place in Mount Morris Park in Harlem. That little attention was paid to these equally splendid affairs is sadly understood given that it was a black audience and black artists. Thankfully, the lost footage of that summer has been found

"Spellbinding" is not a word I throw around lightly. Where South African filmmaker Jaco Bouwer’s latest film “Gaia” is concerned it is richly deserved. While this is a film with a few issues, what works overpowers flaws. Gaia is the goddess of the Earth in Greek mythology. In the seventies, scientist, environmentalist and futurist James Lovelock developed the “Gaia hypothesis,” one that envisages our planet as a super organism that remains alive

“Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” Director: Morgan Neville

Anthony Bourdain was the most unlikely of celebrities: a recovering drug addict and chef who wrote frankly about his experiences in the galley, publishing them in a memoir called “Kitchen Confidential.” The book was a sensation, catapulting Bourdain to stardom. Soon he was able to stop cooking

In the seventies Ron and Russell Mael fast attracted a fan base thanks to their decidedly unorthodox musical act, the Sparks. Despite changing demographics, shifting musical tastes and their unending oddity, the brothers have managed to enthrall fans well into the 21st century. Director Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Baby Driver”) is just one among those many famous fans to wax nostalgic about the band, with a new documentary

Rita Moreno. What spirit! What soul!

Such a long and successful career in a Hollywood that did not want her to be herself nor celebrate her Puerto Rican heritage.

The new documentary “Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It” is an uplifting look at the EGOT [EGOT is what you call individuals who have won all four Emmy

Mariem Pérez Riera was able to bring her subject to Tribeca this past weekend for in-person screenings of the documentary “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It.” It had been a challenging year for Pérez Riera, who had to finish editing the film during covid-imposed lockdowns.

“I remember on Friday the 13th of March [2020] I finished locking the film,” Pérez Riera

Ellen Burstyn and James Caan are two of our finest actors and it is always nice to see them on screen. While their combined resumes contain some of the best films of the seventies (and a few of the eighties), today’s films are losing their adventurous spirit and, as the years go on, modern Hollywood gives actors of their caliber and age less and less to do.  These days when we see a cast that combines Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin

"The mysteries of life. The mystery of everyone who passes us on the street. What is happening in the lives of these people? Sometimes nothing. Perhaps something.”

Strangers walk by one another and might say “hello.” Other times, we glide by, silent and unaware, not knowing what plight others are experiencing. An acknowledgment, a smile, it has importance. It could save a life, even.