Max’s View
Nominated for Best Picture
Vice:***1/2 I have an easy question for you: Who is the worst living Republican president? Your gut instinct is telling some of you to say Trump. I am a pacifist, though, so the decision is easy for me. President Trump recently decided to pull all US troops out of Syria, infuriating the Republican establishment. You remember the troops in Syria, ri...
Now Available on Netflix and Nominated for Best Picture
Roma: ***1/2 It’s pretty ridiculous when I hear someone being accused of being racist against Mexicans. There is no conceivable way to be racist against Mexicans. Mexican is a nationality, not a race. Racism against Mexicans is as absurd as racism against Americans. This conversation underscores the awkward fact that Americans know virtually nothin...
If Beale Street Could Talk: *1/2
A few years ago, filmmaker Barry Jenkins captured lightening in a bottle with “Moonlight.” It’s a magical film. It’s a unique, bittersweet tale of first love. It’s an empathetic exploration of a life spent in the closet. It introduced Mahershala Ali as the leading actor of our time. “Moonlight” was so magical that it was able to win Best Picture ev...
Coming Soon to the Savoy Theater
The Favourite: **** I have no ambition. I started my first full-time job with health insurance in 2001. For eighteen straight years, I have had the exact same career goal: keep my job. Over the years, co-workers have asked me – in confusion – why I don’t want more. Those same co-workers tend to get disappointed and frustrated and leave the company....
Mary Queen of Scots: **1/2
“There’s only one difference between you and me. When I look at myself all I can see. I’m just another lady without a baby.” -Jenny Lewis, “One of the Boys” (2014) One of the convenient things about being a man is that there is no stigma about being childless. When someone at work asks me why I’m 42 and have no kids, I can say it is because I’ve...
Bill Murray Stories
Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man: **** I have great empathy for celebrities. They can’t have a break-up, a drug-addiction, or an ill-conceived Tweet without the whole world knowing about it. However, all bets are off when celebrities start getting political and telling me what to do and think. Then my empathy quickly turns to disdain. Just...
A Sober Reckoning of George H W Bush’s Presidency
I was disappointed by the overwhelmingly positive bi-partisan coverage of George H W Bush last week. I know we are not supposed to speak ill of the dead. And, since I didn’t know the guy personally, I will agree that he was a nice guy and a loving family man. For all I know he’s in heaven right now, chatting with the angels about why the Astros cou...
Coming Soon: Green Book ****
Hollywood has been making dumb movies about race for a long time. From “To Kill A Mockingbird” to “Mississippi Burning” to “The Help,” they’re all dumb is same way. In Hollywood’s self-righteous fantasyland, white people are the saviors who swoop in and bravely save black people from Jim Crow. And in these movies, black characters are written as sa...
Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare: ***
I got terribly sick about 10 years ago. I’m not going to bore you with the details, but my illness made me learn more about the state of American health care than I had ever planned. After a few miserable years, two hospital stays, two surgeries, and a boatload of drugs, I was feeling okay. I could hardly believe it. I was going to waste away and d...
A Star is Born: *1/2
“A Star is Born” is the runaway hit of the season. It is getting great reviews and it is going to be nominated for Best Picture. I don’t get it, though. This isn’t a well-made movie. To me, “A Star is Born” is a sloppily made melodrama from a first-time director who yearns for the white male dominated world of the 20th Century. Writer/director/star...
