reviewed by Carmen Ferreiro-EstebanDirected by the creator of the Oscar-winning SIDEWAYS, The Descendants starts when Matt King, a “back-up” father (his words) must slow down his career to take care of his two daughters (17 and 11) while his wife is in the hospital in a comma caused by a boat accident. Soon we learn, his wife, spurned by Matt’s long absences and indifference, was having an affair. Matt and his older daughter [...]

Is it lack of imagination or a metaphysical conjunction of the planets, whatever that means, what determines the movies produced in Hollywood?I’m asking this because on the heels of the magnificent take on the Snow White classic Fairy Tale, Once Upon a Time (Sundays on ABC), I reviewed last week (https://www.notreadyforgrannypanties.com/2011/11/once-upon-time.html), next year, not one, but two movies are coming to the silver screen, about the fair skinned, raven haired, and blood-red lipped [...]

Directed by Pat O'Connor Reviewed by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban The generational gap has always existed, I suppose, but, because the world has changed in the last decades with unprecedented speed, the gap between the world I lived in as a teenager and the world my teenagers live in now has become wider and deeper than the Great Canyon. Watching the movie Circle of Friends last week confirmed this for me.Because I write for teenagers, I read [...]

 directed by John Michael McDonaghreviewed by Carmen Ferreiro-EstebanThe guard of the title is Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) of the Galway Garda in Western Ireland. Garda means policeman in Irish, so the movie should, actually, be called The Cop, and, in a way, The Guard is a cop movie. But one you have not seen before.The story starts with Sergeant Boyle getting to the scene of a car crash and helping himself to [...]

directed by Michael Winterbottom reviewed by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban Warning: Don't watch on an empty stomach Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, two British comic actors in real life, go on a trip together to cover Steve's assignment as a food critic for the Observer. The restaurants they visit, housed at posh boutique hotels, were chosen by Steve's girlfriend, Mischa, who was supposed to go with him. But Mischa has moved to the States and [...]