Talia Shire – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

NONNAS – Review by Susan Granger

May 28, 2025May 28, 2025 Susan Granger Brenda Vaccaro, Drea de Matteo, Enoteca Maria, Jody Scaravella, Joe Manganiello, Karen Giordano, Linda Cardellini, Liz Maccie, Lorraine Bracco, netflix, Nonnas, Stephen Chbosky, susan sarandon, Talia Shire, vince vaughn

Feel-good films are few and far-between these days, so discovering Nonnas was an unexpected delight. Nonnas was inspired by the true story of Jody Scaravella who, after the death of his mother, opened a restaurant called Enoteca Maria. Always captivated by watching his Italian mother and grandmother (‘nonna’) in the kitchen, the words of comfort that touched inconsolable Joey (Vince Vaughn) the most were: “You need to feed your grief. It’s your only way through.” .A middle-aged M.T.A. mechanic living in Brooklyn, Joey knew nothing about opening and running a restaurant when he impulsively bought the run-down Staten Island property in 2007 and recruited four elderly ‘nonnas’ to cook authentic, traditional Italian dishes.

Reviews

NONNAS – Review by Lynn Venhaus

May 9, 2025May 11, 2025 Lynn Venhaus Brenda Vaccaro, Drea de Matteo, Enoteca Maria, grandmothers as the cooks, Jody Scaravella, Joe Manganiello, Karen Giordano, Linda Cardellini, Liz Maccie, Lorraine Bracco, netflix, Nonnas, Stephen Chbosky, susan sarandon, Talia Shire, vince vaughn

Lasagna Della Nonna, Polla Alla Cacciatora, Polpetta, Burrata and Capuzzelle are on the menu at Enoteca Maria. On screen, in the charming Nonnas, you can imagine smelling the basil and garlic, and tasting a flavorful meal that will feed your soul, made from time-honored family recipes. To honor his mother and grandmother, Jody Scaravella wanted to share the pleasures of Italian American cuisine at a restaurant where breaking bread would create a sense of home. The comedy Nonnas is based on his bumpy true story of opening a convivial trattoria on Staten Island in 2007, with a lively group of local grandmothers as the cooks.

Reviews

MEGALOPOLIS – Review by Susan Granger

September 25, 2024September 29, 2024 Susan Granger Adam Driver, aubrey plaza, Dustin Hoffman, francis ford coppola, Giancarlo Esposito, Jason Schwartzman, Jon Voight, Laurence Fisbburne, Mary Beard, Megalopolis, Nathalie Emmanuel, Roman Coppola, Shia LaBoeuf, Talia Shire

Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project Megalopolis is a futuristic fable about the downfall of the American Empire. The 85 year-old auteur envisioned the dystopian concept 40 years ago, writing, revising and re-casting it, spending $120 million to make it, using funds he’d made from Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, etc. and his California wine business. Archaic references to the fall of Rome are everywhere, along with Shakespearean dialogue, peppered with quotes from Greek/Roman/Sapphic poets. Adam Driver even delivers Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be…” soliloquy in its entirety.

Reviews

CHANTILLY BRIDGE – Review by Lois Alter Mark

March 20, 2023March 26, 2023 Lois Alter Mark Ally Sheedy, amor media, chantilly bridge, chantilly lace, Helen Slater, JoBeth Williams, Linda Eikenberry, linda yellin, Lindsay Crouse, Martha Plimpton, Talia Shire

When Linda Yellin’s Chantilly Lace was released as a TV movie in 1993, it invoked strong feelings from viewers – many of whom related to the deep connection between the seven BFFs. Others dismissed the improv-inspired film as little more than women talking. The fans apparently won out because the friends are back in Chantilly Bridge, 25 years older, if not necessarily wiser.

Reviews

WORKING MAN – Review by Martha K Baker

June 3, 2020June 7, 2020 Martha K. Baker (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments Peter Gerety, robert jury, Talia Shire, working man

There’s nothing flashy about Working Man. No chases. No crashes. No sex or violence. It succeeds on subtlety. The protagonist has no flash either: Allery Parkes is just, as the title says, a Working Man. He has his bench and his locker, his lunch in the same corner, his steadiness. And then he doesn’t.