Review: "The Lesson"

by Matt St Clair

In his BAFTA-nominated breakthrough performance from last year’s Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Darryl McCormack dazzled viewers with his charm and dramatic depth. The fact that he held his own against Emma Thompson giving one of her finest performances made his work even more applaudable. The new slow-burn thriller The Lesson from director Alice Troughton and screenwriter Alex MacKeith, allows him to follow up that stunning turn by going toe-to-toe with another European acting goddess.

The acting goddess in question is Julie Delpy who plays Hélène, the wife of renowned author J.M. Sinclair (a sublime Richard E. Grant). Looking to provide their son Bertie (Stephen McMillan) with a tutor to prepare him for his entrance exams to Oxford, the Sinclair couple hires Liam (McCormack), an aspiring writer and avid fan of J.M. 's work...

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Chastain or Comer -- Who will inch closer to the Triple Crown?

by Matt St Clair

When looking at the recently announced Tony nominations, you might have noticed that the Best Actress in a Play lineup has only four nominees. That's because there were fewer than nine leading actresses from the 23 eligible plays during the 2022-23 Broadway season. Due to Tony rules and regulations, only four women were able to nab a spot. As a refresher, those four women are Jessica Chastain for A Doll’s House, Jodie Comer for Prima Facie, Jessica Hecht for Summer, 1976, and Audra McDonald for Ohio State Murders. Given that Hecht and McDonald are the only nominees for their respective plays, the potential winner is surely a contest between Jessica Chastain and Jodie Comer...

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Streaming: Keira Knightley in "The Boston Strangler"

by Matt St Clair

Dynamic of an actress as she may be, Keira Knightley remains quite stuck in the past. As she brilliantly makes each role she plays her own, she consistently transports us into different time periods whether it’s WWII (Atonement, The Aftermath), 5th century AD (King Arthur), or 18th century England (The Duchess). This time around, Knightley is taken to the early 1960s in Boston Strangler, the new journalism crime drama written and directed by Matt Ruskin (Crown Heights)... 

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Review: "80 For Brady" is a winning comedy

by Matt St Clair

Good timing! 80 For Brady is opening the week before the Super Bowl but it's also opening in the thick of Oscar season, the Super Bowl for movie lovers.  Making it feel yet more timely is the fact that its main quartet consists entirely of actresses with Oscar pedigree. As unlikely as it is that this’ll make any dent next year at this time, 80 For Brady is still a winning comedy...

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Review: 'Soft & Quiet' is anything but

by Matt St Clair

Soft & Quiet, the feature directorial debut from Beth de Araújo (a newly minted Gotham Award nominee), is the most anxiety-inducing experience you’ll have watching a movie this year. Taking place over the course of one stressful afternoon, this depiction of a group of like-minded women involved in a harrowing chain of events is bound to leave viewers squirming in various ways. 

When the women first meet up, it seems like a casual get-together. But, as they’re taking out refreshments, group leader Emily (Stefanie Estes) unwraps her pie with a swastika carved in the middle. It's a sudden revelation that this gathering is a meeting for their group called the Daughters for Aryan Unity...

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