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Frank Capra’s Meet John Doe
By J.D. LafranceThe mark of a truly gifted filmmaker is when their work is able to transcend the times in which they were made and continue to be highly regarded, beloved and is still relevant to...
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Stan & Ollie; Happy As Lazzaro; Vice; They Shall Not Grow Old and Araby on...
by Sam Juliano New Year’s Eve 2018 is upon us. As always we think along the line that the new year will be better than the one expiring, but as we get older this will always be the melancholic swan...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Nothing Stopped Sophie
by Sam Juliano How many times does one hear that a student achieving straight A’s in English performed far better on his or her SATs on the mathematics portion of the test, even though the college...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Fox + Chick: The Party and Other Stories
by Sam Juliano Though the exasperating “chick” in Sergio Ruzzier’s Fox + Chick: The Party and Other Stories could hardly be considered an outcast, his cunning and inhospitable behavior still recalls...
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The Golden Globes, Capernaum, Destroyer, Minding the Gap and Blindspotting on...
by Sam Juliano It was great to relive the old times on last week’s Monday Morning Diary where nearly twenty-five comments were placed and where the discussion was inspired. Whenever I conclude to...
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Wonder Boys
By J.D. LafranceWonder Boys (2000) is a redemptive tale of a college professor in the midst of a mid-life crisis. It is a film about faded glory and people past their prime. Curtis Hanson’s film is...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees
by Sam Juliano Don Brown’s The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees is one of the most powerful and heartbreaking picture books of this past decade. Actually the proper classification for this...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Nanny Paws
by Sam Juliano The last time a picture book featured a take-charge dog was a few years ago when Jon Agee’s irreverent It’s Only Stanley introduced us to the most intrepid and resourceful canine...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: The Wall in the Middle of the Book
by Sam Juliano Out of the frying pan and into the fire Had Jon Agee’s The Wall in the Middle of the Book been subject to the McCarthy era scrutiny as were other literary works, films and plays back in...
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Cold War, Western and Mock Caldecott Results on Monday Morning Diary (January...
by Sam Juliano My school time-consuming Mock Caldecott voting prevented me from posting the Monday Morning Diary early but here it is later in the evening. 194 ballots were cast by Fairview’s first...
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Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly
By J.D. LafranceBased on George V. Higgins’ 1974 crime novel Cogan’s Trade, Killing Them Softly (2012) is a protest film masquerading as a crime movie. It’s an angry howl of discontent presented under...
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THE COENS’ THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS “All day I’ve faced a barren...
© 2019 by James Clark In many ways, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), looks to a past leaving it nearly an anachronism. The helmsmen here, Joel and Ethan Coen, have, in their business...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Thank You Omu!
by Sam Juliano The final message of the soulful picture book Thank You Omu! is unmistakably Capra-esque. The entire premise and rousing finale of the beloved 1946 film holiday jewel It’s A Wonderful...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Seeing Into Tomorrow
by Sam Juliano Richard Nathaniel Wright is widely and justly regarded as one of the greatest African-American writers of all-time, indeed one of the most towering American men of letters who ever...
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Best Films of 2018 and Glass on Monday Morning Diary (January 21)
by Sam Juliano Martin Luther King Day 2019. Here’s invoking this great American on his annual day of tribute. The majority of schools in the nation are closed. A promised snowstorm in the...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: If I Had a Horse
by Sam Juliano My name is Paikea Apirana, and I come from a long line of chiefs stretching all the way back to the Whale Rider. I’m not a prophet, but I know that our people will keep going forward,...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Water Land
by Sam Juliano What some baby boomers would attest were all the rage back in the days when the internet, intricate graphs and multi-dimensional picture books had yet to make their initially...
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Unfaithful
By J.D. Lafrance Sometimes it’s frustrating being a Diane Lane fan. For an actress so talented, she appears in a lot of dreck. For every The Outsiders (1983) or A Walk on the Moon (1999), there are...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: A Big Mooncake for Little Star
by Sam Juliano Moon, high and deep in the sky Your light sees far, You travel around the wide world, and see into people’s homes. –...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Julian is a Mermaid
by Sam Juliano The gloriously phantasmagorical Julian is a Mermaid invites a bevy of interpretations. Some see it as a young boy with a crush on mermaids, perhaps inspired by love for a certain...
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