Do you smell something? It seems almost unfair to write about Dolittle. Why on Earth would a movie with a $175 million budget and starring Robert Downey Jr. be opening in the armpit of the Hollywood calendar known as January? All the kids are back in school, almost everyone blew all of their spending money…

The French born Chemist E. I. du Pont arrived in the United States on January 1st 1800, a symbolic date for several reasons. (Aaron Burr came within a hair’s breadth of becoming president in the election of that year). In 1802 he established a factory in Wilmington Delaware to manufacture gun powder, using the improved formula of…

The first thing you notice about Ford v Ferrari is the sound, even before the first frame of picture. The telltale sound of motor racing. Cars speeding by. The Doppler effect, changes of perspective, gears changing, the sound of breaks, wheels on the track. The crowds. Sounds there throughout the racing scenes. Sound that puts…

One is the loneliest number. The previous two years, I have repeated the same opening paragraph in my year-end review – ending the paragraph wondering how aliens hadn’t yet put us out of our misery – and I thought about doing it again. It still applies. Horrible things continue to happen, too many people are…

The last decade has given the film viewer a tidal wave of sewage in the form of endless remakes, sequels, and a combination of the two with comic book superhero movies. It is just the way the film industry’s way of saying, we’re bereft of imagination and are willing to pander to vulgar tastes of…

50. True Grit– The 2010 Coen Brothers movie is based on a great American novel by the Arkansas writer, Charles Portis. It is a superior remake of the John Wayne original, which looks pretty bad now by comparison. It was nominated for 10 Oscars and starred the great Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn. 49. The…

2 hours 11 minutes, Rated R for profanity, minor violence. Fair Value of Richard Jewell: $12.00. I don’t think it’s the best film of the year, but I’d say that it’s a film I’d want as mandatory viewing in a civics course, along with 12 Years a Slave. That’s high praise. Not really, it’s just…

Can you handle the truth? If you are into war movies, there are two major ones from which to get your fix. By now, you probably already saw Midway and, depending on what city you live in, might have seen 1917 as well. If not, you are waiting with bated breath for January 10 to…