Review: “Ammonite”

From the get-go, comparisons of “Ammonite” to last year’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” were inevitable. A lesbian period romance between a working woman and the woman she is caring for, set at the seaside? There aren’t too many of those. But the comparison really isn’t all that fair, as “Ammonite”—which no, is not […]

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Review: “Mary Queen of Scots”

2.5 out of 5 stars In “Mary Queen of Scots,” women rule.  It’s the year 1561, and Elizabeth I (played by Margot Robbie) is the Queen of England.  Her first cousin Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) returns to Scotland and reclaims her throne after the death of her husband, the King of France.  They both have […]

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Review: “On Chesil Beach”

3 out of 5 stars. “On Chesil Beach” is a 2007 novel (novella, really, as it comes in at under 200 pages) by celebrated author Ian McEwan that intimately examines the relationship between a young couple up to and including their wedding night.  It does this so intimately, in fact, that it’s hard to imagine […]

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Review: “Lady Bird”

4.5 out of 5 stars. “Lady Bird” opens with a close-up of a mother and daughter sharing a bed in a hotel room, sleeping, facing toward each other but not touching.  It’s a shot that effectively establishes the connection this pair has that forms the foundation of writer and director Greta Gerwig’s stunning and honest […]

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