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.

For some, redemption lies at the end of a long and difficult path. For many, that road is without a bend, to others a winding and treacherous journey of doubt awaits. To those who have done jail time all this can seem impossible.

Writer/director E.B. Hughes’’s New York City-set “The Long Way Back” follows one Max Lyons, a man who’s  just been released from prison after doing a year and a half stretch for theft.

I've never really cared for the films of Zack Snyder. They may look great as the director gives each one his unique visual style but the films feel empty and badly scripted.

Apart from his debut feature as director, the surprisingly respectful remake of George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead,” every Snyder film became more and more insufferable. (It should be noted that, as of this writing

Director Luke Holland set about the incredibly brave task of getting on film as many of the last living members of Hitler’s forces as he could, and the result is a powerful, heartrending documentary called “Final Account.” Now in their eighties and nineties, these elder Germans reflect back on the terror that the Third Reich was able to visit upon Europe. But what of being German at that time? Was it easier to just conform when the Nazis were

Hanif Muhammad made the conscious decision to rise above the injustice and poverty that befell him and many in his community.

Muhammad found himself incarcerated due to the many bad choices made in his youth, as he went down a wrong path for many years. Allowed a second chance to rise above it all and break the stereotypes that affected many of his friends and family from

Actor Clayne Crawford impressed me with his performance in the excellent and underrated 2012 thriller, “The Baytown Outlaws.” In a film full of over-the-top violence and macho posturing, Crawford found a realistic tone to his performance which kept the film centered.

His film choices have been uninteresting and haven’t challenged him as an actor since this.

Crawford is back on my radar

“Impasse” | Yimou Zhang has made some absolutely wonderful films over the years, including “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers.” His films typically delve into China’s past and complement historical stories with larger-than-life acrobatics and martial arts action. Zhang once again trains his lens on the past with “Impasse,” but this time it’s to the era of WWII. “Impasse” follows a group of Chinese special agents who are working in Manchukuo

There’s a decent idea for an action and revenge movie lurking somewhere in the mess that is the new Guy Ritchie movie “Wrath of Man.” For one, Jason Statham is present, so it’s foregone before the opening credits—done to the tune of a bizarro world, baroque James Bond style—have finished. In short: bad guys are going to die hard at Statham’s hands. They probably deserve it. What else do you need to know? Well, for one, Statham keeps his typical