The Queen
Despite its generic title and potentially boring subject matter – a few days in the life of today's British royalty – The Queen is a richly acted and utterly compelling look at the political machinations that went into place after the death of Princess Diana in 1997, when newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) eventually forced Queen Elizabeth… read more!
Queen of Katwe
When you sit down to watch Queen of Katwe, you are first greeted by the Walt Disney animated logo, in all its sparkly glory, while cheerful African music plays in lieu of "When You Wish Upon a Star". And at that moment, you might think, My God, this movie is going to be pandering and horrible. Instead, what follows is a nicely restrained biopic about… read more!
The Quiet American
This film was supposed to come out in late 2001, but Miramax feared that releasing a film about pre-war Vietnam might make post-9/11 audiences uncomfortable, especially as it warns against the dangers of the US meddling with third world countries. So they sat on it for a year and released it with little fanfare. Too bad, as The Quiet American… read more!
A Quiet Place
In early January, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek List of 9 predicting various things for 2018, including what I felt would be the sleeper hit of the year. I swear, dear reader, that I initially picked A Quiet Place for that honor before I settled on the wackier, as-yet-unreleased The Happytime Murders. Only time will tell how the latter film fares,… read more!
Quills
Entertaining if heavy-handed Oscar bait about the last days of the Marquis de Sade, as his pornographic writings get smuggled out of his cell at the Charenton Asylum in early 19th century France and become an embarrassment for the poor abbot running the asylum. For some reason I have never managed to see a Philip Kaufman film, despite the notoriety… read more!