Expo: Magic of the White City

Expo: Magic of the White City

Dennis D. McDonald
Documentary, History
This documentary about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago is the perfect companion to the book The Devil in the White City. While the latter's serial murderer is never mentioned in the documentary, the visual splendor of the Fair is portrayed in a detailed and awesome manner on the screen.
Yasujiro Ozu's GOOD MORNING

Yasujiro Ozu's GOOD MORNING

Dennis D. McDonald
Comedy, Japanese, Ozu
It’s the late 1950’s in a new cookie-cutter Tokyo suburb. Two young brothers are eager to get a television. A young couple nearby has one which they let the kids watch (they love sumo wrestling) but the kids’ parents are concerned that the young couple’s laid-back attitude will rub off on the kids.
Richard Curtis' LOVE ACTUALLY

Richard Curtis' LOVE ACTUALLY

Dennis D. McDonald
Comedy, Spouse Approved, Surreal
Back in the Day, the phrase “English ensemble actor film” brought to mind names like John Gielgud, John Mills, Alec Guiness, and Trevor Howard. Love Actually shows how far we’ve come when we can watch a blank-faced actor like Martin Freeman ( Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) nonchalantly chatting away while feigning naked sex with his soon-to-be-girlfriend.
Robert Schwentke's FLIGHTPLAN

Robert Schwentke's FLIGHTPLAN

Dennis D. McDonald
Aircraft, Thriller
This tightly plotted thriller pits Jodie Foster against the disappearance of her character’s little daughter on a giant super-jumbo airliner in midair. Playing a jet aircraft engineer who helped design the aircraft where most of this midair plot takes place, Foster pits her innate intelligence and cunning against both the disappearance and her natural instinct to panic.
Florent Siri's “HOSTAGE”

Florent Siri's “HOSTAGE”

Dennis D. McDonald
Action
This surprisingly intelligent and well made hostage drama is another high quality vehicle for Bruce Willis (Tears of the Sun, Hart's War, Sin City) in which he demonstrates again his ability to put behind his earlier "Anybody else want to negotiate?" persona.
Joel Schumacher's “THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA”

Joel Schumacher's “THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA”

Dennis D. McDonald
Music
I’ve never been a fan of this musical. The songs are repetitive and dull, the story is silly, and the overriding themes remind me of the covers of those paperback romance novels you see on sale in supermarkets. But I loved the movie, even though the three points I made above are painfully obvious. So why did I like it?
Jim Jarmusch's “MYSTERY TRAIN”

Jim Jarmusch's “MYSTERY TRAIN”

Dennis D. McDonald
Quirky, Jarmusch
This 1989 movie tells three stories about people in Memphis whose lives almost intersect based on their staying one night in the same seedy hotel. The first story is about a young Japanese couple, visiting Memphis by train, who are paying homage to the roots of rock and roll. The young woman reveres Elvis while the young man reveres Carl Perkins.
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