by Alan Yudman MOONLIGHT is something of a biopic. It examines the life of a boy who has grown up in Miami. Chiron is poor, his mother is a crack addict. When we first meet him he is about 10 or so. He is so small, other kids call him "Little". He mostly has to … Continue reading MOONLIGHT

by Alan Yudman I was born in PATERSON. Lived there for 5 plus years until we moved across the Passaic River to a more suburban town. My memories of Paterson were of a place abandoned by the Middle Class and a place we never wanted to go to. By the time I was in high … Continue reading PATERSON

by Alan Yudman I try not to read other reviews before I write mine. But it has been impossible to ignore the press surrounding ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY. Most of the criticism I've read has focused on these themes: "it's not a Star Wars movie", "it's too dark", "there's no character development". And … Continue reading ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

by Alan Yudman I think I liked ASSASSIN'S CREED. I know i was captivated by it. I could not stop watching it. But then again I cannot stop watching police chases or internet cat and dog videos. So it is a low bar for what I will watch. The movie is directed by Justin Kurzel … Continue reading ASSASSIN’S CREED

by Alan Yudman You look at the cast list for OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY and you wonder how this movie could be anything but a hit. T.J. Miller, Jason Bateman, Kate McKinnon, Olivia Munn, Rob Corddry, Jennifer Anniston, Vanessa Bayer, Courtney B. Vance, Jillian Bell... that's quite a list of funny people. Well, don't judge a … Continue reading OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY

by Alan Yudman MANCHESTER BY THE SEA is such a quite, subtly told story, that it is sometimes hard to see exactly how tragic it is. Casey Affleck is Lee Chandler. We meet him in a flashback where he is riding on his brother's fishing boat, teaching his nephew the finer points of angling. It … Continue reading MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

by Alan Yudman There wasn’t anything quite like an old school MGM musical. Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Ginger Rogers and Judy Garland (or Shirley Jones or Debbie Reynolds or, well take your pick). Those movies were pure escape. I mean who breaks out in song in the middle of their day. There was nothing … Continue reading LA LA LAND

by Alan Yudman In case you haven't noticed, Disney has a formula for its animated musicals. A young girl (usually some kind of princess) is tested, overcomes and winds up as a heroic inspiration. Don't knock it. It works every time. The latest version is MOANA. The only difference here is the heroine isn't thin … Continue reading MOANA

by Alan Yudman John Hughes was to teenaged angst what Donald Trump is to the alt-right. Hughes was the standard bearer and the enabler. In the 1980’s from “Pretty in Pink” to “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” John Hughes tapped into that particular vein like no other filmmaker. His characters were stereotypes in the best sense … Continue reading THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN