There are some types of screen narratives that probably shouldn’t be attempted on limited means, and “international espionage thriller” may well be one of them. That notion is illustrated by “Alarum,”...
In tallying up the casualties of war, there’s seldom a thought for the animal kingdom beyond our own two-legged species. It’s assumed that Mother Nature will simply “adapt,” her less-evolved populations...
Arguably one of the most insufferable protagonists in literature is the title figure in Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s “The Sorrows of Young Werther” — a martyr to unrequited love who ultimately commits...
In recent years, movies about senility and mortality have taken on a pitilessly bleak, frightening tenor, notably in such awards magnets as “Amour,” “Vortex” and “The Father.” Preferring a less grim...
Showbiz has always made for strange bedfellows. Still, it’s hard to fathom any single personality linking talents as diverse as Pet Shop Boys, Bob Dylan, Fishbone, John Tesh, Diana Ross, Dusty...
Initially a magazine short story, then expanded to novel form in 1972, Barbara Robinson’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” has remained a holiday staple ever since. Its enjoyable central conceit of...
