 FocusFox Studios, 2021. Opening this weekend at The Maple Theater in Bloomfield is film intended for the whole family. "Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog" evokes memories of the Oscar-winning 1997 film, "Life Is Beautiful." In that movie, a Jewish father (played by Roberto Benigni) tries to make life bearable for his young child, despite the horrors going on around them.
"Shepherd" may not win the same awards or be quite as highly regarded when all is said and done, but it accomplishes something that is not at all an easy feat: It tells a story about the horrors of WWII, The Holocaust and the affront on Jews living in Germany and Europe at that time, by finding an angle that is accessible for a younger audiences and their parents. It teaches truths through the journey of a dog, and draws incredible parallels between the treatment of this Shepherd and how Jews were treated by Hitler's Nazi army.
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 Apple TV+, 2020. When you've achieved Tom Hanks-level status, you expect greatness. Whether that's fair or not, Hanks does have his pick of material at this point in his career, so you know he's going to be invested no matter what he chooses to do. With his latest film, "Greyhound," you can tell that this was a story near-and-dear to him...heck, Tom Hanks doesn't just star in this, he even wrote the screenplay. This just feels sub-par given the production value...it's a big, loud war movie that forgets to make us care about its subjects.
 Screen Media, 2020. Based on the book, "The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor," by CNN's Jake Tapper, "The Outpost" is an exceptional and stark look at a group of heroes literally forced to fight their way out of a hole...a hole they were placed in by none other than their superior commanders.
 NETFLIX, 2020. Leave it to Spike Lee to deliver a timely, deeply resonant - and dare I say -"masterpiece," at this precise time in American history. His latest joint, "Da Five Bloods" is also his best film in decades, and should be essential viewing once it hits Netflix this Friday.
 Universal Pictures, 2020. Director Sam Mendes has pulled off a visually-stunning, epic war film, but it's "one-shot" gimmick works against it.
 Lionsgate, 2019. Not every historic event should get a movie, apparently, if they're going to be as bad as "Midway." Everybody involved deserves much, much better, including the real-life soldiers that this film is based on.
 Fox Searchlight, 2019. Everybody has had an invisible pal growing up as a kid...young Jojo's just happens to be Hitler.
 20th Century Fox, 2017. Read Tom's quick reviews of these movies at the following link: https://www.axs.com/movie-reviews-new-comedy-snatched-up-against-the-wall-and-king-arthur--118478  Paramount Pictures, 2017.  LucasFilms, 2016. No you didn't misread the headline of this article. "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," which opens on, Dec. 16, is the best Star Wars movie ever made. Yes, better than "Empire Strikes Back." And even if that sounds like a blasphemous claim, most fans will probably agree that it as at least light years better than last years "Episode VII: The Force Awakens," which earned nearly universal praise. So you can rest easy Star Wars die-hards: "Rogue One" is nearly as miraculous an achievement as the story it tells.
And if you're looking to avoid major plot spoilers, then you'll also be happy to know that this review won't ruin anything major for you that you couldn't already extrapolate from the trailer, as we won't address the several awesome, amazing twists, turns and Easter eggs that are folded into this new adventure. |
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