Author: Grace Porter

Wonder Woman Is A Better Movie Than The World Deserves

Wonder Woman Is A Better Movie Than The World Deserves

Posted by | Jun 3, 2017 | , |

Overview: Diana, warrior and Princess of the Amazons, leaves her homeland when an American pilot, Steve Trevor, crashes on Themyscira and tells her of a great war. In her quest to bring peace to the world, she discovers the scope of her powers and the truth behind who she really is. Warner Bros. Pictures; 2017; Rated PG-13; 141 minutes. Wonder: It was the first scene in Themyscira in which we see Amazon warriors Antiope (the ever-perfect Robin Wright) and Philippus (Ann Ogbomo) in battle training that I realized something was off. The hype surrounding Wonder Woman, skepticism over its...

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Hidden Figures Favors Drama Over Impact

Hidden Figures Favors Drama Over Impact

Posted by | Jan 11, 2017 | |

Overview: Three black women employed by NASA in the early 1960s solve mathematical equations essential to the success of the space program’s manned missions. 20thCentury Fox; 2016; Rated PG; 127 minutes. Women in History: In the early 1960s, a team of black women worked for NASA as mathematicians and engineers to help the U.S. beat the Soviets in the race to space – and none of us knew about them. Hidden Figures shines the spotlight on three real-life women: Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), a brilliant mathematician who graduated high school at 14, college at 18, and taught math before becoming the...

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Jackie Is All Towering Performance

Jackie Is All Towering Performance

Posted by | Dec 21, 2016 | |

Overview: In the week after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, his wife, Jackie, is tasked with making impossible decisions to preserve his legacy while grieving publicly and privately. Fox Searchlight Pictures; 2016; Rated R; 100 minutes. “A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.”: Jackie (Natalie Portman) slides up to the front of the hearse to ask the driver if he knows who James Garfield was. What about William McKinley? No? Abraham Lincoln? Yes, of course he knows who Abraham Lincoln was. What did he do? He was the president who freed the...

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THE LION: An Interview with Benjamin Scheuer

THE LION: An Interview with Benjamin Scheuer

Posted by | Dec 6, 2016 |

THE LION begins without introduction. This one-man musical is simply staged – Benjamin Scheuer, his suit, and six guitars—each characters in their own right—tell the autobiographical, coming-of-age story of now thirty-something Scheuer’s relationship with his father, first love, family discord, and devastating medical diagnosis. The musical is written and performed by Scheuer; he’s charming, witty, and poised, and, most of all, generous with his story. He’s a brilliant lyricist, the kind who doesn’t waste a word. Music, the thing that binds him to his father, is his  tool for forgiveness, redemption, and clarity, and in listening to his words,...

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Allied is a Narrowly Focused World War II Drama

Allied is a Narrowly Focused World War II Drama

Posted by | Nov 28, 2016 | |

Overview: A Canadian intelligence officer and a French resistance fighter pose as a married couple to assassinate a Nazi ambassador in Casablanca in 1942. They start a new life in London but are soon forced to confront realities of the war. Paramount Pictures; 2016; Rated R; 124 minutes. Come for the Spies, Deal with the Love Story: If ever there were a film sabotaged by its trailer, it would be Allied. It is clever, though, to sell the film as an espionage thriller since much of its audience wouldn’t attend if they knew ahead of time that this is...

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