Category: movies

  If you think that all good movies have Super Bowl excitement, don’t bother watching Scent of a Woman (1992, rated R, 157 minutes). This obviously many-splendored film has grit, […]...

  Cold Mountain (2003, rated R, 154 minutes) is based on Charles Frazier’s first novel. I expect that any writer who has read it has murmured “wish I’d written that,” […]...

  Billy Elliot (2000, rated R, 111 minutes) is about aspirations, with clap-your-hands dancing and a helping of human kindness. Jamie Bell pretty much flawlessly plays 11-year-old Billy, the son […]...

  Winter’s Tale offers a gripping combination of magic, miracle, young love, and gritty good vs. evil plot lines. It’s just what you need to guarantee the feel-good feeling as […]...

  Steal a Pencil for Me is a believable and deeply touching true story of an unimaginable romance in World War II that bloomed in the horrible camps at Westerbork […]...

  Oceans fill my eyes when I watch Message in a Bottle (1999, rated PG-13, 131 minutes). If you’re a Nicholas Sparks fan, you already know what I’m talking about. […]...

  Manchester by the Sea is a relentless white-knuckle drama. There are too many horrors for these ordinary, decent people who try so hard to live ordinary, decent lives.  Manchester […]...

  In the Heat of the Night (1967, rating “Approved,” 110 minutes) is a message film. The message was red hot in 1967, considering the civil rights violence of the […]...

    There are several plot lines in Good Will Hunting, and of course you know about this one: genius janitor solves math problems on blackboard at night and also […]...

    I watch Hard Times (1975, rated PG, 93 minutes) every year, because it’s a heroic story, because it’s complete unto itself, because it generously invites the viewer to […]...