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Caldecott Medal Contender: Freedom Over Me
by Sam Juliano The scourge of slavery as revealed in an existing document discovered by nonagenarian author-illustrator Ashley Bryan poses that African-Americans working on the Fairchilds estate in...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Leave Me Alone
by Sam Juliano If the decision on what book will win this year’s Caldecott Medal was left in the hands of 170 first-graders from Fairview, New Jersey the result would be a landslide triumph for Vera...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: We Found A Hat
by Sam Juliano Master picture book stylist Jon Klassen won the Caldecott Medal several years ago for the second book in his eventual “Hat Trilogy.” He also won two Caldecott Honors for Extra Yarn and...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: There is a Tribe of Kids
by Sam Juliano Kirkus raved “Smith soars in this earnest, meditative work about longing, the joy of interaction, and family.” In a similarly glowing assessment Publishers Weekly offered “Every...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: School’s First Day of School
by Sam Juliano A popular idiom goes something like this: “I would have loved to be a fly on the wall to witness that great event you just experienced.” A variation on that theme centers around a...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: How to Track a Truck
by Sam Juliano Until Jason Carter Eaton and his Caldecott Honor winning Illustrator John Rocco released their fabulous picture book manual offering up tips to children hankering to find their brand of...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Real Cowboys
by Sam Juliano The cowboy is probably the most masculine symbol of Americana, and as a result is the most unfairly vilified in the culture. There are numerous stereotypes that are mainly perpetuated...
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The Caldecotts, ‘Split’ and stage play ‘Yen’ on Monday Morning Diary (January...
by Sam Juliano We have a new president, and after a contentious inaugural speech, violent protests and continued rage we seem to be headed for some difficult times, to put it mildly. But on the...
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J.D. Lafrance on Richard Linklater’s Slacker
By J.D. Lafrance “I can see why people are asking me about a generation I happen to be a part of, but to me Slacker owes more allegiance to cinema than to a generation.” – Richard Linklater “It was...
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DENIS VILLENEUVE’S ‘ARRIVAL’“You can understand communication and still end...
© 2017 by James Clark In Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi classic, Space Odyssey (1968), one earthling, Dave, leverages his involvement in the American space program to strike up a unique and fertile...
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Paterson and Neruda on Monday Morning Diary (January 30)
by Sam Juliano The latest discussions in regard to a possible new project for the late spring have revolved around the possibility of a “Greatest Television Shows of All-Time” countdown. We were...
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J.D. Lafrance on The Black Stallion
By J.D. Lafrance The two action/adventure films that made the greatest impression on me as a young boy were The Black Stallion (1979) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). While I’ve seen the latter...
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I Am Not Your Negro, The Salesman and Indignation on Monday Morning Diary...
Two screen captures from the American masterpiece INDIGNATION based on a novel by Philip Roth by Sam Juliano Atlanta Falcon fans are not doubt still numb after last night’s Super Bowl debacle. But if...
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Picture Book Review: The Color Machine
by Sam Juliano Near the conclusion of A. H. Taylor’s The Color Machine the Mayor of Colormazoo addresses a crowd of testy petitioners with judicial clarity that hearkens back to Shakespeare. When...
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J.D. Lafrance on Michael Mann’s The Insider
By J.D. Lafrance Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the typewriter, Michael Mann brought the crusading journalist back with The Insider (1999), which did for television journalism what...
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DAVID LYNCH’S ‘LOST HIGHWAY’: “I don’t like the sound of something…”
© 2017 by James Clark The film world abounds with generally furtive protagonists locked into an almost hopeless and definitely endless dedication to sprucing up sensibilities that won’t do....
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Best Films of 2016 on Monday Morning Diary (February 13)
by Sam Juliano For the very first time since I began composing lists back in 1973 (as the film critic for the Bergen Community College Monitor-Jan Troell’s “The New Land” was #1 that year) 44 years...
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J.D. Lafrance on Clint Eastwood’s White Hunter, Black Heart
By J.D. Lafrance From early on in his career, Clint Eastwood has been interested in taking the path less traveled when it came to his career, taking on roles and making films that often subverted his...
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Brian Wilson’s Top 20 Films of 2016
The esteemed Brian Wilson, Chicago librarian, film aficionado and member of this year’s Caldecott Medal committee, has posted his fabulously eclectic and high-quality list after his usual banner year...
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The Red Turtle, A United Kingdom, Hester Street and Oscar Nominated Animated...
by Sam Juliano Oscar night 2016 will again be celebrated in an annual party at Fairview’s Tiger Hose Firehouse on Sunday evening, February 26th from 6:00 until midnight. Dante’s Italian Market will...
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