Frank B.

  • Movie Mondays: Scandals on Screen

    Scandals fascinate us. The characters are fearless and their actions are audacious; best of all, you can’t wait for them to get their comeuppance. Here are three classic films that deftly deal with some of the most complex and notorious scandals of the twentieth century. Robert Redford’s Quiz Show (1994) looks at one of the biggest… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Love it or Hate it?

    Have you ever read a movie review or had a conversation with a friend and wonder afterwards: “how could they like that movie?” Or, “I love that movie; how can they hate it?” Here are a half dozen examples of films that have polarized film critics and audiences through the years. Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Movies for Summer Nights

    As we head into the dog days of summer, two new films – The Kings of Summer and The Way Way Back – celebrate how the season often plays a significant role in the movies. Here are a half dozen films that take place in summer – the sweet, the silly and the steamy. Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Chewing the scenery

    “Chewing the scenery,” an American phrase coined in the late 19th century, refers to dramatic, theatrical overacting. Watching performers chew the scenery can be excruciating, except when it’s an excellent actor or actress working with top-notch material – then it’s fun. Here are four films – two with dysfunctional workplaces, two with disintegrating marriages – that feature actors at the… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Looking for a new TV series?

    Today’s Movie Monday column is focusing on television. Why? Because many people regard the past ten years as a new Golden Age of television. From Six Feet Under and The Sopranos, through The Wire and to Breaking Bad and Mad Men, both critics and the public see the writing contemporary on cable TV programs as… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Cinema with Style

    There are some movies that stay with me because of the way they look. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the performers, directors or screenwriters in the following films, it’s the details — cinematography, color, costume design — that contribute to the unforgettable style of each of the these three films. The opening credits for Drive (2011) are written in… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Coming-of-age films with an edge

    I recently saw Mud (2013) – easily one of the best movies of the year, so far – and was struck by its multiple layers. It’s a thriller that stars Matthew McConaughey in the title role as a fugitive living on a remote island, hiding from bounty hunters and pining for the love of his life,… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Films about the Fourth Estate

    This month, two highly anticipated TV series – Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom and  House of Cards, the critically acclaimed Netflix original series – are available on DVD. Both shows deal with journalists and the power of the news media, a topic that was the subject of three smart, classic award-winning films. His Girl Friday (1940), based on… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: (Good) movies I never want to see again

    Every once in a while a movie comes along that I appreciate and admire, but don’t “like.” They are provocative and disturbing. I’m glad I saw these, but for me, once was enough. Kids (1995), written by then 19-year-old Harmony Korine (director of Spring Breakers), follows Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick), a reckless teenager whose mission is to… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Where are the women directors?

    The film at SIFF’s closing night gala this year is The Bling Ring, directed by Sofia Coppola. I’ve known that women have been underrepresented as filmmakers, but when I stumbled upon this infographic recently, it was eye-opening: women directors have been nominated for an Oscar only 4 times in 85 years (Lina Wertmuller’s Seven Beauties, Jane Campion’s The Piano,… Continue reading

  • Documentaries from SIFFs gone by

    As I pore over the hundreds of screenings at the Seattle International Film Festival every year, I find myself focusing on two categories – documentaries and Scandinavian films. Here are some of my favorite documentaries from SIFFs gone by. Every Little Step is about the making of “A Chorus Line” on Broadway. Yes, it’s about actors… Continue reading

  • Movies about siblings

    Some of the most important – and enduring – relationships in our lives are those with our siblings. With emotions from petty to profound, our siblings connect us with our past as well as treading the pathways into the future. These emotions are on full display in Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton’s Your Sister’s Sister, which… Continue reading