Melanie Dishman's archive

Did anyone have a happy childhood?

Everyone has a story. That’s why the memoir business thrives. In recent times, it really can be traced back to Mary Karr’s “The Liar’s Club” (1995), a raw account of her childhood under the care of two very dysfunctional parents who happened to live right here in Southeast Texas. It sparked a memoir renaissance as knowns and unknowns decided they also had stories to tell. Karr milked two follow-ups, one of which, “Lit,” has been purchased by HBO with the hopes that it will be adapted for television.

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Though painful, some stories need to be told

It’s not easy revisiting the past, but sometimes it’s necessary. At least that’s how director Kathryn Bigelow felt about the epic Detroit riot of 1967. Ignited by an afterhours raid on a black nightclub by the Detroit police force, it lasted for days.

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Atomic Blonde

Where were you when the wall came tumbling down? In the fall of 1989, Reagan was in the Oval Office and Eastern Europe was in a free fall. Frankly, I don’t remember where I was when the Berlin Wall finally fell, but as the premise for this movie, it intrigued me from the beginning.

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Fall Movie Preview

With the summer movie season halfway over, it’s time to look ahead. The temperature won’t move much through September and October, but the tone of movies will as the season moves away from the blockbusters and raunchy comedies to more dramas and serious fare with Oscar contenders competing for audience attention. A quick look reveals one trend toward horror films — not the usual stuff, but more psychological horror stories, with some major players.

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Sundance favorite turns tragedy into comic genius

Talk about a hard sell: A comedy about a young woman in a medically induced coma near death is risky business. But what is it comedians always say? Comedy is nothing but mining your personal tragedies for laughs, and that’s what comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon have done in their touching, hilarious story.

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