The indomitable ‘Thelma’ rolls into your local theater
Jun
3
2024
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She’s a little old lady not from Pasadena, but rather Encino, or thereabouts. June Squibb plays the title role not as a doddering oldster, but a defiantly independent one even as the vagaries of cellphones, Facebook, and online-banking seem to be colluding against her.Yes, THELMA (2024), out at month’s end from Magnolia Pictures, is a ...
Mad for Mads in Denmark’s ‘The Promised Land’
Jan
7
2024
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On the face of it, perhaps a not-very-scintillating tale. A bunch of guys fighting over a piece of land.Mads Mikkelsen plays Ludvig Kahlen — a real historic figure — a beat-up, 18th century army captain who seeks to fulfill the King’s hoped-for habitation of an inclement swathe of dreary Danish terrain. With the love of ...
Superlative studio musicians of ’70s rock revealed in ‘Immediate Family’ doc
Dec
14
2023
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This is the portrait of an artist. Don’t recognize him? His name is Waddy Wachtel. Never heard of him? That’s intentional. Wachtel, whom Keith Richards calls a “natural maestro,” made a life decision — to become, and remain, a top-notch, back-of-house studio musician. Playing behind front-line artists like Carole King, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Keith ...