Celebrate Memorial Day and “Earn this”

Memorial Day is chance for Americans to relax and postpone the workweek one day and perhaps find a beach or a barbecue.  Although, not everyone has the day off, as I sit in an air-conditioned coffee shop and three baristas are busy making macchiatos, chai lattes and mochas. Memorial Day is a day when Americans remember servicemen and servicewomen who lost their lives.  From a movie perspective, when I think of Memorial Day, my mind immediately recalls one particular scene in Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, “Saving Private Ryan” (1998).  Brings tears to…

Happy Birthday, Carey Mulligan!

Carey Mulligan, one of the finest dramatic actresses working today, turns 32 on May 28.  Her resume is filled with great performances, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated her for a Best Actress Oscar in 2010 for “An Education” (2009).   Be sure to check out her work in “An Education” but also “Never Let Me Go” (2010), “Drive” (2011), “Far from the Maddening Crowd” (2015), and her hilarious – but very caustic – turn in “Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013). Here is a clip from the…

Cranston fights an implausible story in ‘Wakefield’

“Wakefield” – “I’m totally bewildered by the situation that I created for myself.” – Howard Wakefield “A short story is the shortest distance between two points.  A novel is the scenic route.” – Robert J. Sawyer Howard Wakefield (Bryan Cranston) is a married man who lives in a big, beautiful house nestled in an affluent suburb with his wife, Diana (Jennifer Garner), and their twin girls.  He is a law firm partner.  She is an assistant curator at the county museum.  Their lives appear in perfect order, one that the…