Nell Minow's Blog, page 57
September 19, 2016
Descendents 2: First Look
The story deepens in the music-driven sequel to the global smash hit "Descendants," as the teenage sons and daughters of Disney's most infamous villains -- Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay (also known as Villain Kids or VKs) -- try to find their place in idyllic Auradon. When the pressure to be royally perfect becomes too much for Mal, she returns to her rotten roots on the Isle of the Lost where her archenemy Uma, the daughter of Ursula, has taken her spot as...
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September 18, 2016
Emmys 2016
"If your show doesn't have a white Bronco or a dragon in it, go home now." Jimmy Kimmel was joking in his opening monologue at this year's Emmy Awards, but it was funny because it was true. Once again, the Emmys were awarded to past recipients, including two record-breakers. "Veep" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus with her sixth for lead actress in a comedy, and her eighth Emmy overall broke the record for most lead actress wins, breaking the three-way tie she held with Candice Bergen and Mary Tyler...
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Teenager’s App for Lonely Teens
NPR reports on an app created by a teenager to help other teens with one of the most agonizing challenges of middle school and high school -- finding a place to sit at lunch.
She told NPR
Pretty much, kids can sign up as ambassadors for a Sit With Us club and agree to post open lunches so that anyone who has the app and has nowhere to go can find a table and, hopefully, make some new friends....This way, it's very private. It's through the phone. No one else has to know. And you know...
She told NPR
Pretty much, kids can sign up as ambassadors for a Sit With Us club and agree to post open lunches so that anyone who has the app and has nowhere to go can find a table and, hopefully, make some new friends....This way, it's very private. It's through the phone. No one else has to know. And you know...
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Mental Illness on Television
Angelica Jade Bastién is one of my favorite critics, and her essays on film are always insightful and thought-provoking. For Vulture, she wrote about the increasingly sensitive and authentic portrayal of mental illness on television. And she calls out the still-too-frequent portrayal of mentally ill characters as serial killers, or quirky-but-wise, or even super-smart but flawed figures.
If you live...
If you live...
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September 17, 2016
September 16, 2016
Trailer: The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
Brett Dalton ("Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."), Anjelah Johnson-Reyes (Bon Qui Qui), Neil Flynn ("The Middle" and "Scrubs"), WWE's Shawn Michaels, and D.B. Sweeney ("The Cutting Edge") star in "The Resurrection of Gavin Stone," a faith-based film about a former child star whose court-ordered community service brings him to a church. It opens in theaters nationwide on January 20, 2017, presented by WWE studios and BH TILT in association with Walden Media, Vertical Church Films, and Power in Faith...
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September 15, 2016
Snowden
Who better to take on the story of Edward Snowden than cinema-of-paranoia director Oliver Stone? Well, Laura Poitras, who directed the documentary about Snowden, "Citizenfour," and who is portrayed in this film by Melissa Leo. As is usually the case, the documentary is the better film. But Stone's narrative version, "Snowden," is an absorbing version of the story, presenting vitally important issues in an arresting, provocative manner, with some superb moments. It is flawed, as Stone's...
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Finding Altamira
One of the most deeply moving, inspiring, and just plain thrilling experiences of my life was visiting the legendary Altamira cave, where the earliest humans created art that is stunningly beautiful. It is the earliest work we have that tells us something about the spirit, sophistication, understanding, and aesthetics of our ancestors who lived four or five times as long before ancient Egypt as ancient Egypt is from us. The paintings are every bit...
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Bridget Jones’s Baby
I really don't like saying this. But Bridget Jones has the same problem as Adam Sandler and the rest of those Apatow-ish man-boys. They haven't figured out that cluelessness and mistakes that are endearing in a 20-something are annoying and then just exhausting when they get older. Bridget, again played by Renee Zellweger though without the yo-yo weight gain, says in this film that she has to stop making the same mistakes and start making new ones. Well, she's right. But it's pretty much the...
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Mr. Church
Eddie Murphy gives a thoughtful, nuanced, sensitive performance in a film that suffers from a too-predictable script and suffers even more from very bad timing.
Director Bruce Beresford picked the right time for the similarly themed "Driving Miss Daisy," released in 1989, the story of a friendship between an illiterate black chauffeur and a cranky Jewish widow in the Civil Rights era South. It was a prestige and popular success, with Best Picture and Best Actress Oscars. But 27 years later,...
Director Bruce Beresford picked the right time for the similarly themed "Driving Miss Daisy," released in 1989, the story of a friendship between an illiterate black chauffeur and a cranky Jewish widow in the Civil Rights era South. It was a prestige and popular success, with Best Picture and Best Actress Oscars. But 27 years later,...
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