All posts by Stephen Michael Brown

I've reviewed films for more than 30 years. Current movie reviews of new theatrical releases and streaming films are added weekly to the Silver Screen Capture movie news site. Many capsule critiques originally appeared in expanded form in my syndicated Lights Camera Reaction column.
2024

Travel Like Movie Stars: Top 24 Must-Visit Hotels, Resorts for 2024

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Element Lifestyle, a premier luxury travel and lifestyle concierge service, has announced its highly anticipated annual list, “Element’s Top 24 Hotels and Resorts for 2024.” Curated by Element’s passionate team, the yearly lineup showcases the world’s most captivating destinations, along with Element’s personally recommended properties – setting the stage for a year of unforgettable travel and meaningful experiences for Element’s clients, colleagues and all curious travelers.

“Amid the twists and turns of the post-Covid landscape, we’re continually inspired by the travel industry’s resilience and purpose,” said Michael Albanese, co-founder of Element. “This is best reflected in how hotel partners worldwide are opening exciting new properties and creating authentic experiences that capture not only a sense of place, but a true spirit of optimism.”

For over a decade, Element Lifestyle remains at the forefront of curating exceptional travel experiences for its private members. And Element’s 2024 list reflects the best of the best across the globe, featuring regular partners who continue to shine, along with some newcomers who have earned well deserved mention on the list.

Below are Element’s top choices of where to travel in 2024 and the finest hotels and resorts to experience upon arrival:

Aman Nai Lert (Bangkok)
www.aman.com/hotels/aman-nai-lert-bangkok

Auberge Collegio Alla Querce (Florence, Italy)
https://aubergeresorts.com/collegioallaquerce/

Belmond Venice-Simplon Orient Express (Italian Riviera) 
www.belmond.com/trains/europe/venice-simplon-orient-express/

Cannua (Colombia)
https://cannua.com

Chable Sea of Cortez (Mexico)
https://seaofcortez.chablehotels.com/

Four Seasons Rabat (Morocco)
www.fourseasons.com/rabat/

Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo (Jalisco, Mexico)
www.fourseasons.com/tamarindo/

Ilma, a Ritz Carlton Yacht (Mediterranean)
www.ritzcarltonyachtcollection.com/ilma-summer-2024-season

Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino (Greece)
www.costanavarino.com/mandarin-oriental-costa-navarino/

Montage Cay (Bahamas)
www.montage.com/destinations/bahamas/

Nobu Hotel Toronto (Canada)
www.nobuhotels.com/hotel-collection/toronto/

Nujuma, a Ritz Carlton Reserve (Red Sea, Saudi Arabia)
www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/ejhrz-nujuma-a-ritz-carlton-reserve/overview/

One&Only One Za’Abeel (Dubai)
www.oneandonlyresorts.com/one-zaabeel

Pereh Mountain Resort (Galilee, Israel)
https://pereh.co.il/en/

Rosewood Vienna (Austria)
www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/vienna

Borgo Dei Conti (Italy)
www.borgodeicontiresort.com/

Six Senses La Sagesse (Grenada)
https://www.sixsenses.com/en/resorts/la-sagesse

The Corinthia Oasis (Malta)
www.corinthia.com/en-gb/oasis/

The Emory (London)
www.the-emory.co.uk/

The Homestead Lodge (South Africa)
www.homesteadlodge.com/

The Lana (Dubai)
www.dorchestercollection.com/dubai/the-lana

The Vineta (Palm Beach, Florida)
www.oetkercollection.com/hotels/the-vineta-hotel/

The Warren (New York City)
www.firmdalehotels.com/hotels/new-york/warren-street-hotel/

Virgin Limited Son Bunyola (Mallorca, Spain)
www.virginlimitededition.com/en/son-bunyola/

Five bonus picks in the United States:

Hotel Anna & Bel (Philadelphia)
https://www.annaandbel.com/

Hotel Saint Augustine (Houston)
www.bunkhousehotels.com/hotel-saint-augustine

Mollie (Aspen)
https://mollieaspen.com/

Populus (Denver)
https://populusdenver.com/

The Dunlin (South Carolina)
https://aubergeresorts.com/the-dunlin/

A members-only, Conde Nast Top Travel Advisory, Element Lifestyle provides private, luxury travel and lifestyle concierge services. Based in Los Angeles and Atlanta, Element Lifestyle operates discreetly to deliver exceptional results for high-profile clients, leveraging a global network of trusted partners across travel, culinary, nightlife, entertainment, sourcing, and event industries. Creating authentic, unforgettable experiences with meticulous attention to detail, the Element team features a passionate team of proactive and dedicated luxury lifestyle experts. Their sole mission is to enhance the lives of their clients with flawless delivery while surprising and delighting them along the way. Annual membership fees start at $36,000 USD. Learn more about Element’s personally curated travel experiences at Element Lifestyle’s website. 

2023, Rent It Tonight

Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” Often Fascinating

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Just as moviegoers are debating whether the recent film title Maestro refers to its male or female lead, I can reasonably proclaim Michael Mann’s Ferrari (B-) refers to Laura Ferrari played by Penélope Cruz who absolutely steals the show from the film’s intended subject, her character’s husband and the mastermind behind the iconic sports car company Enzo Ferrari played by Adam Driver. Cruz is absolutely magnetic as a business partner, grieving mother and jilted wife who dominates the film’s most powerful sequences. She shows up with a gun in a grand entrance and is number one with a bullet every time she’s on screen. Driver is good too and rather fantastic in some signature speeches, but Cruz gives a performance for the ages. It’s one thing to be eclipsed by Cruz’s tour de force; and it’s another thing altogether to be the miscast Shailene Woodley in a thankless and oddly accented role as Enzo’s mistress Lina Lardi. Surprisingly, racing sequences are few and far between as a Godfather style historic melodrama takes center stage, sometimes reaching intended operatic heights but other times meandering a bit. The film is best when a study of contrasts – between spouses, balancing relationships and love, navigating public and private life in Italy, and experiencing the thrill and terror of racing itself in the med-twentieth century. The story of a man’s two families, his battle against the tyranny of time itself, his tragic familial and wartime losses and his unswerving eye on impeccable design and victory is satisfying and often quite absorbing. The sequences on the race track are well done too and filmed from cinematic perspectives rarely captured, but everything that’s not Cruz in the film is simply second fiddle. Another familiar face in the cast is Patrick Dempsey as driver Piero Taruffi; it would have been nice to explore more about the men behind the wheel or even a fairly formative incident merely referenced in the post-script. Mann doesn’t fully summon or realize his thesis here, but the parts that work in the film hum with precision.

2023, Rent It Tonight

Spanish Oscar Candidate “Society of the Snow” is Thrilling Survival Story

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Traditional disaster movies can veer toward the exploitive or sensational, but if anyone was up for the challenge of thoughtfully dramatizing the 1972 Andean mountain range plane crash in which only a third of those aboard survive (formerly told in 1993’s Alive), it’s the skilled director of the tsunami thriller The Impossible, J.A. Bayona. His Society of the Snow (aka La sociedad de la nieve) (B+) is grueling and rewarding, crafted with epic filmmaking skill and an ample running time and showcasing a stirring spiritual side to the story of resilience. Those stranded by the downed plane have various conflicting perspectives about how to handle their struggle, which escalates as they face hunger, avalanche and much more. Told with desaturated colors and realistic sound mixing against a formidable icy landscape, it’s a profound and immersive work. The film’s Uruguayan and Argentine cast members, most of whom are newcomers, include talented actors Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Fernando Contigiani García and Enzo Vogrincic Roldán as rugby teammates who take on key roles to overcome their dire situation. Visual effects supervisor Laura Pedro and cinematographer Pedro Luque do wonderful work to depict muscular action and wilderness survival against a rugged, stark setting as we watch the characters waste away while keeping inventive options open. The film also honors those who were lost in the tragedy with poignant visual overlays to Michael Giacchino’s evocative music. As survivors become one another’s best hope and face moral questions and rare moments of levity, Bayona creates a gripping drama and demonstrates why the story is so worthy of telling.

2023

Duvernay’s Ambitious “Origin” Tackles Society’s Great Divides

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A brilliant new film imagines a world in which people outlast a system that makes outcasts. Writer/director Ava Duvernay’s cerebral drama Origin (A-) unfolds like a procedural as its central character, writer Isabel Wilkerson (sublime work by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), sets herself on a path of global investigation while authoring the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents about how civilizations ranging from Germany to India to the U.S. have oppressed and dehumanized certain groups in their societies. Watching the protagonist’s intellectual discoveries while she simultaneously grapples with tragedy makes for an unusual structure that summons evocative flashbacks and compelling side stories to demonstrate the interconnectedness of peoples’ plights around the world. It sounds heavy and is, but the journey is essential and the work has the ability to move and enlighten audiences in unexpected ways. Duvernay is in complete command here of her vision and builds on her compelling documentary moviemaking style to fashion a type of neo-parable that should be shown and discussed in every classroom around the world.  The lush cinematography by Matthew J. Lloyd and the urgent music by Kris Bowers help propel a conversation-filled movie into a very watchable experience. Matching the majestic Ellis-Taylor are ensemble members ranging from the filmmaker’s muse, the exquisite and funny foil Niecy Nash-Betts, to a very nuanced performance by Jonathan Bernthal. Audra McDonald, Nick Offerman and many other familiar faces show up in the globetrotting adventure of enlightenment. There’s a quiet child performance in one sequence that alone is one of the most heartbreaking captured on film. As the director shows the man-made obstacles that block empathy  and a shared destiny among people, she points out optimism of a push toward collective freedom. The film is stirring and essential.

2023

”Godzilla Minus One” Makes History

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Even if the great radioactive reptilian monster didn’t actually make an appearance in the movie – and he does, spectacularly, Godzilla Minus One (aka Gojira Mainasu Wan) (B+) would still be a fascinating epic exploring survivor’s guilt and overcoming collective trauma. This Japanese kaiju film directed, written and with visual effects supervised by Takashi Yamazaki, takes place in Japan during the late days of WWII and the ensuing years as a kamikaze pilot played by Ryunosuke Kamiki must reckon with his own failure to act when faced with his own fear of mortality. The narrative weaves in real-life historic events such as the bombing of Tokyo and nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll which lend gravitas to the proceedings, plus there’s a tight domestic drama as well opposite exquisite actress Minami Hamabe providing an emotional center of gravity to the existential scare of a giant beast emerging. The film is smart when it comes to the physics of trying to thwart the threat and authentic in its depiction of characters overcoming obstacles. When the towering terror does make a series of signature appearances, the effects are tremendous and the destruction on a gargantuan scale. The film’s crafts are impeccable with standouts including cinematography by Kōzō Shibasaki and music by Naoki Satō; the film plays more like an intimate historical drama than a creature feature and will undoubtedly reward those who experience it on a big screen.

2023, Rent It Tonight

“All of Us Strangers” a Poignant Heartbreaker 

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The protagonist Adam superbly played by Andrew Scott has some unfinished emotional business to reckon with in Andrew Haigh’s intimate, immersive dramatic fantasy All of Us Strangers (B+). The hero’s journey involves a new romantic partner in the form of Paul Mescal and an interlocking plot in which Adam’s parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) come back into his life despite having perished in a car crash three decades earlier. Given the intricacy of the film’s structure and the cerebral presentation of an unlikely premise, Haigh guides his characters masterfully with a transfixing wisdom and wistfulness. The film’s bending of time and space works so effectively because Scott keeps viewers so grounded in his emotional arch; he delivers a quietly revelatory performance. Mescal continues his streak of interesting indie roles with a strong portrayal of a character just out of reach. And Foy and Bell are wonderful as the flawed but fabulous couple who get to tie up some loose ends with the adult son they never knew. The film is a talky tearjerker that ponders some big issues including loneliness and abandonment and is sure to provide tender recognition to those who have lost loved ones. Haigh continues to traverse unexplored territory about gay characters and doesn’t serve up easy answers; he blazes new emotional and filmmaking landscapes. From its effective use of evocative pop music to its stunning close-ups of interlocking characters thrust into unexpected disclosures, the film is a lovely discovery and a must-see for cinephiles.

2023

Done Dirty Down Under: Charming Leads of “Anyone But You” Trapped in Australia and Bad Script Together

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The song “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield plays a supporting sonic part in Will Gluck’s romantic comedy Anything But You (C), which is fitting as the film feels so unwritten one might be surprised to find it wasn’t actually authored by AI. The two leads, Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell), despise one another and are stuck on a destination wedding holiday together in Sydney, Australia where they have to “fake it till they make it” to keep the peace. Occasional spurts of amusing physical comedy plus exasperating shifts in motivation keep the proceedings consistently uneven. After watching the movie, I read it was based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (oh, Beatrice and Benedick and lots of overheard conversations!), which makes the lack of creativity in the formulaic, circuitous script even more dumbfounding. But the real feature here is the preternaturally attractive and charming lead couple at the heart of the movie; both give their all – bronze bodies, snappy come-ons and comebacks – to propel the paltry plot. Otherwise the film wastes both rom-com veterans such as Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths as well as its exotic port of call; there’s a scene in which hikers look over what’s supposed to be a gorgeous view of a valley,  but it’s a quite unremarkable view of basic treetops.  Because somehow, despite their unmotivated actions, we still find ourselves rooting for Sweeney and Powell; and the movie gets a little better, a little more loose and limber, toward the end. It’s all a bit of a voyeuristic dirty window into a charismatic screen couple in need of better agents.

2023

Clooney’s “Boys in the Boat” is Adrift

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It’s pretty and patriotic, which may be just enough for some moviegoers seeking old-fashioned family entertainment. But director George Clooney can scarcely salvage The Boys in the Boat (C-), a true-life Depression era tale of a ragtag Washington State rowing team on a potential collision course with the Berlin Olympics. The stakes should feel rightly leviathan and rarely do. A rudderless coach/mentor story, an undercooked love story and most notably a lack of depth in showcasing team camaraderie are among the central failings of a movie about winning. The crew sport doesn’t quite provide sufficient cinematic gusto either; there are only so many ways to row, row, row one’s way to so-so dramatic results. The coach character played by actor Joel Edgerton, usually a fascinating screen presence, rarely rises to the occasion. Callum Turner is fairly effective embodying the steely, stoic protagonist and makes the most of his underwritten central role. As his love interest, the plucky Hadley Robinson provides the radiant working definition of a role being sidelined. The epic score over oars, head-scratching pivots in plot and pacing, lack of clarity about the hard scrabble kids’ disadvantages against their well-heeled East coast contemporaries, an arbitrary monologue about crafting a seaworthy vessel and the nonchalant arrival of Hitler as a Hail Mary to raise the stakes are all on the low-simmer punch list as the story drifts. There’s a particularly inconsequential passage of the characters fundraising that fails the Dr. Evil test of putting financial figures in proper context. Forgive it the clunky present-day bookends under murky makeup, the unfinished plot points or a number of squandered opportunities, though, as there’s a decent family story about the value of personal integrity and hard work buried within Clooney’s film. The movie definitely needed elements as propulsive as its real-life heroes.

2023, Rent It Tonight

Trio of Talented Actresses Give “Color Purple” Movie Musical New Life

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There’s very little resisting Alice Walker’s most iconic work in any of its forms: the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the 1985 Oscar-nominated movie, the elaborate Broadway 2005 musical stage show or its even more acclaimed stripped-down 2015 revival. So don your lavender, orchid, magenta and violet hues and grab your best friends to enjoy another inspiring telling of this ode to sisterhood in a crowd-pleasing auditorium. Nobody ever told Shakespeare he’s been interpreted too much. Director Blitz Bazawule’s 2023 film adaptation of the book-turned-musical The Color Purple (B) does show some signs of wear, despite some jubilant applause-worthy moments. His fresh lens on the tale gets a little lost in translation as he tries to plumb the depths of the sharply drawn characters while giving them their due as singers too. For those just hopping on the bandwagon, the story traces forty years in the life of Miss Celie (Fantasia Barrino) who is torn from her sister and children in the rural South in the early 1900s and faces hardships including an abusive husband “Mister” (Colman Domingo). With support from a sultry singer named Shug (Taraji P. Henson) and her stand-her-ground stepdaughter Sofia (Danielle Brooks), Celie ultimately finds extraordinary strength in the unbreakable bonds of a new kind of female empowerment. This new production includes three iconic and melodic moments of sonic uplift so potent and a final reel so tearjerking and triumphant viewers may forget the film’s sluggish start. Bazawule reveals his exposition a bit too much like a “greatest hits” for those who know the story rather than discovering it fresh as the characters would experience it. He also doesn’t land exactly how to effectively execute the musical numbers – are they real or fantasy? lived-in or larger than life? – until he hits the stride of barnburners “Hell No,” “Push Da Button,” and “I’m Here.” This re-imagining is handsomely photographed, poignantly acted and has a stirring finale. Barrino is so good in the final reel that one might wish she was extended more of a showcase early on in the film. This new Purple is recommended for the timeless story, the strength of the ensemble and bursts of greatness that blossom just when you need something beautiful to savor.

2023, Industry News

Southeastern Film Critics Name Top Ten Best Films of 2023

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NOTE: This was the first year Silver Screen Capture joined this voting body.

The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) has named Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer as the Best Picture of the Year. SEFCA’s eighty-nine members located across nine Southeastern states also recognized Christopher Nolan for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Additionally, the film earned Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey, Jr. and Best Ensemble for its star-studded cast that includes Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Aldren Ehrenreich, Jason Clarke, Tom Conti, Josh Hartnett, Kenneth Branagh and others. Behind the camera Oppenheimer took the top prizes for Best Cinematography (Hoyte Van Hoytema) and Best Score (Ludwig Goransson).

“This fall featured three big films from three grandmasters of cinema,” said SEFCA President Scott Phillips. “Martin Scorsese released Killers of the Flower Moon. Ridley Scott brought Napoleon to the big screen and Michael Mann hits theaters next week with Ferrari. Despite this bumper crop from heavy-hitting auteurs, Christopher Nolan’s film from six months ago is walking away with eight SEFCA awards. Oppenheimer is a stunning cinematic achievement. Our members recognized that in July, and they are rewarding it in December.”

‘When asked about the film year that was 2023, SEFCA Vice President Jim Farmer said, “2023 will be remembered by many as the year that featured the commercial, critical and cultural phenomenon known as ‘Barbenheimer.’ But it was also a season that offered a stunning amount of high-quality films, with master filmmakers near the top of their games, fresher faces making strong impressions and performers showing new dimensions. It was a pleasure to take in all that 2023 had to offer.”

Those “fresher faces” include writer/director Celine Song whose debut feature, Past Lives, lands at # 4 on SEFCA’s Top 10 of 2023, and writer/director Cord Jefferson whose debut feature, American Fiction, placed seventh in the SEFCA Top 10. The diverse list also includes an animated film (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and two foreign films (Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest).

Read SEFCA’s full list of winners below. Visit SEFCA on the web at SEFCA.net to learn more about its members as well as past winners. You can also follow SEFCA on X at @SEFilmCritics.

Top 10 Films of 2023

1. Oppenheimer

2. Killers of the Flower Moon

3. The Holdovers

4. Past Lives

5. Barbie

6. Poor Things

7. American Fiction

8. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

9. Anatomy of a Fall

10. The Zone of Interest

Other wins from the SEFCA:

Best Actor: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Best Actress: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey, Jr., Oppenheimer

Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Best Ensemble: Oppenheimer

Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Best Original Screenplay: David Hemingson, The Holdovers

Best Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Best Documentary: Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best Foreign-Language Film: Anatomy of a Fall

Best Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema, Oppenheimer

Best Score: Ludwig Goransson, Oppenheimer

2023, Rent It Tonight

Chalamet is “Wonka” in Charming Candy-Colored Prequel

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Expect an everlasting gobstopper of a smile on your face as the greatest showman of the chocolate-loving world headlines a delightful new origin story. Paul King’s musical fantasy family feature Wonka (B+) stars Timothée Chalamet as the titular confectioner who arrives in Europe to realize his dream of opening a candy shop but finds himself choc-blocked by a series of rivals. Chalamet is absolutely enchanting, summoning his theatre kid charms to embody a crooning, inventive optimist, not yet cynical to the ways of the world or banishing anyone to the fudge room. Partnered with the fabulous young actress  Calah Lane in a series of adventures, they gracefully spark imagination and engage in deft wordplay. The whole ensemble is a hoot, including Olivia Colman as a wicked innkeeper, Rowan Atkinson as a priest with a sweet tooth and Hugh Grant as a surly Oompa-Loompa. King’s whimsical palette and maximalist production design sets the stage for fabulous surprises and sly humor around every corner; and Jody Talbot and Neil Hannon (frontman of Irish band Divine Comedy) bring uplift in the form of old-fashioned Broadway-style songs. When the plot shifts into all-out heist mode for a while, it’s a little less interesting; but like a string of taffy, Timmy springs it right back into sentimental health. This is definitely the non-ironic family feature of the year with just enough bite to keep everybody satisfied.

2023, Rent It Tonight

Brotherly Love, Wrestling Nostalgia on Display in “Iron Claw” Drama

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Wrapped in the ring-slinging theatrics of the wrestling world in its heyday, Sean Durkin’s biographical sports drama The Iron Claw (B) is ultimately a moving meditation on brotherhood. Chronicling the true story of the Von Erich family wrestlers, all bred to be polite, strong warriors by their domineering father (a fierce performance by Holt McCallany), an ensemble including the very committed troupe of Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson experiences the highs and lows of the dangerous sport. Efron gets maximum screen time and, aside from his brotherly bonding, is most engaging opposite Lily James as the woman who tries to draw him out of his single-minded shell. The movie never rises to heights of astonishing creativity or breakthrough filmmaking craft, but you will believe in the hard-scrabble tale of this family, and Durkin extracts earned emotional beats out of the brothers’ cursed existence. As the film depicts small-town Texas origins colliding with the hefty machinations of a federation in the making, those who have grown up watching this particular form of glam-macho entertainment will find its story engaging and its happenings nostalgic. Credit Efron in particular for drawing audiences into a tale of hometown boys lured into a larger than life scenario, reminiscent of tragic tales like The Outsiders or Boogie Nights. Even though the actors are ostensibly faking it, you will see their reality clearly.