Homer through Nolan’s Looking-Glass
Joe Breslin examines the good, the bad, and the upshot of Christopher Nolan’s epic attempt to tell the story of Odysseus’s homecoming.
Soaring Over the Rainbow
Wicked: For Good completes the faithful adaptation of a Broadway masterpiece. The Broadway musical Wicked first hit movie theaters in November 2024, giving rise to both wild celebration of its artistry and sudden disappointment over its coverage: it was only Act One! But the year-long wait for the second act is finally over, and the result is a visually stunning movie that brings all the musical and philosophical sophistication of the stage show to the silver screen. It’s hard to think of a more entertaining way to spend two hours…
Living the Sermon: A Review of 42
Jackie Robinson’s Story When Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey cooks up a plan to add a black man to the roster, he knows there will be pushback. “You break a law and get away with it,” says an advisor, “and some people will think you’re smart. You break an unwritten law; you’ll be an outcast.” “So be it,” says Rickey. The year is 1945, and the man for the job is Jackie Robinson. Starring the late Chadwick Boseman (of Marvel fame) and Harrison Ford, 42 chronicles Jackie’s rise and the…
Planning a Kingdom – A Review of King Richard
“Don’t worry about what other people are thinking,” says Richard Williams to his daughters, future tennis phenoms Venus and Serena. “We are here getting great.” King Richard (2021) looks at the Williams sisters’ early years and makes a powerful argument that fathers shape the world, for good or for evil. While the entire cast turns in capable performances, Will Smith embodies the tenacious fatherhood of its titular character, a man whose passion, planning, and principles, as portrayed in the film, wrestled a dream into waking life. King Richard portrays Richard…