Neely Swanson

1 week ago | beverlyhillscourier.com | Neely Swanson

The big theater hit and Olivier-winning play of this season in London is about a famous author, one whose works have touched so many children, mine included. But what we imagined from his books as empathy and sympathy for the underdog, lay within a heart full of hate. There was, it turns out, a reason that his wife called him Roald the Rotten. The play, “Giant,” is set in 1983.

2 weeks ago | beverlyhillscourier.com | Neely Swanson

That season is upon us. The kids are out of school, the thermometer is heating up and the evenings will be free. What to do? Let’s go to the movies. CinemaCon has promised sequels and tentpoles, but the releases are heavy on horror as well. It’s been a long haul since the pandemic shut down the movies, followed by the strikes of 2023, but the wheels have been turning and many of the anticipated movies that were delayed are getting their release.

3 weeks ago | beverlyhillscourier.com | Neely Swanson

Jean-Luc Godard once said, “A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” Stephen King took that to heart when he wrote his novella, “The Life of Chuck.” Beginning at the end and ending at the beginning, he wove a tale of an ordinary man, much like you or me, whose life is intertwined with all around him. Director/adapter Mike Flanagan has done a masterful job of bringing this tale to the screen.

1 month ago | beverlyhillscourier.com | Neely Swanson

Writer-director Laura Piani’s “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” is the kind of romantic comedy where the ending is preordained, and the stumbling blocks are all too evident. Some of you will care; I didn’t. This sumptuously filmed movie invites you in if you’ll let it. Agathe, pretty in an awkward, open-faced sort of way, works at Shakespeare & Company, the storied English-language bookstore in Paris on the banks of the Seine facing Notre Dame.

1 month ago | beverlyhillscourier.com | Neely Swanson

“Everyone’s beautiful at the ballet.” And this new, ravishingly filmed and acted limited series, “Etoile,” is no exception. Words fail me in describing how these wonderfully immersive and stunningly filmed episodes have affected me. I am and always have been a fan of dance, whether ballet, modern or jazz, and regretted that my lack of coordination left me at the altar at which I worship.