Hiatus for now, but

Hi folks, it's been a busy late fall - mainly as a result of travel and my "day job" as a freelance journalist - hence the reason for the dearth of recent posts. Unfortunately, more of the same will continue into January. I'm going to revisit my time allotment come the end of January, and if I can keep up the blog then, I will.

Meanwhile, a couple of takes on recent films: Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird is vastly overrated – an unbelievable rating of 99% at Rotten Tomatoes - huh!? Rather, it’s a competently-directed first effort by the acting It Girl of recent years, a fave of mine as well and methinks a sentimental favorite of the critics. But it tells a ho-hum story of a rebellious teen - very much modelled on Gerwig's own life – surprise! - that is no different from scores of other coming-of-age movies...And one film that hasn’t been mentioned much in terms of accolades, or mentioned at all, is Dan Gilroy’s Roman J. Israel (photo above) starring Denzel Washington. Washington plays a legal savant and a has been Sixties radical who still is fighting the good fight, even if he’s somewhat rough around the edges. This film, I must admit, brought tears to my eyes. When was the last time that happened?