By John Larkin The best film festivals are not only about the movies you see. They are about the strange, unexpected collisions that happen around them. A restoration leads to a conversation. A screening leads to a memory. A party leads to a piece of movie history that you did not know existed. That was my experience at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival, which ran April 30 through May 3 in Hollywood. The 2026 theme was “The World Comes to Hollywood,” a fitting idea for a

Purchase at MovieZyng.com by clicking the image above! Last year I had the privilege of seeing an early screening of the new 4K restoration of this classic documentary. In my original write-up I openly wished for a disc release of this restoration and it seems my plea has been answered in this beautiful set from Warner Archives. What follows is my original write up on not just the film but the very special night that surrounded it involving meeting George Stevens Jr. I had th

Purchase at MovieZyng.com by clicking the image above Review by John Larkin THE FRONT is an outlier in the canon of WOODY ALLEN as an actor. If most of his screen persona is built around neurotic wit, self-consciousness, romantic unease, and verbal spiraling, THE FRONT asks something very different of him. Here, he strips much of that away. His Howard Prince, a small-time bookie and restaurant cashier, is still recognizable as a Woody Allen character on some level, but he is

Review by John Larkin Andy Serkis Brings Orwell to the Barnyard for a New Generation I did not expect my first major Angel Guild event to involve Andy Serkis, George Orwell, and rentable piglets. I recently became an Angel Guild member, subscribing not only for myself but for my family. Ironically, that membership, not a traditional press invitation through FILMS IN REVIEW, is what allowed me to attend this special New York premiere event for ANIMAL FARM. But as someone who h