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Sometimes, when choosing a film, only a documentary will do. 

By now you know I love movies, but the fact is, I’m equally passionate about music. My taste runs to the more modern forms tied to this country’s rich history: jazz, rock, rhythm and blues, and of course, those evergreen standards from the Great American Songbook, interpreted by giants like Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Over the course of my life, my all-consuming passion for movies has precluded my watching a lot of spectator sports, though I’ve always had a soft spot for baseball. (I’m old enough to remember the “Miracle Mets” of 1969, and can still name the players. Tommy Agee, anyone?)

I’m thinking about all those dedicated, overwhelmed doctors, nurses, and technicians, providing care at grave risk to their own health and safety. Just how do we protect them, and then, how do we thank them properly? In tribute to their crucial, courageous work, here are ten top titles that feature doctors and nurses — some noble, others less so. 

 With warmer weather comes thoughts of romance. Or is it just me? Even with forced isolation causing the occasional disagreement, I feel profoundly grateful to have my wife of three-plus decades experiencing this strange, new CO-VID world with me.

As this stay-at-home period persists, I am increasingly grateful to be somewhere where I can get out and walk. Even so, cabin fever is very real. I feel it in my bones.

The beginning of this month marked the 125th anniversary of Charles Laughton’s birth, one of the finest British actors of his day. Laughton was a natural who made his mark on the London stage while still in his twenties.

Watching Matthew Miele’s “Alan J. Pakula: Going For Truth” (2019), more a heartfelt memorial tribute than a standard doc, waves of nostalgia swept over me, not just for Alan J. Pakula’s best films from half a century ago, but for the bygone days when artists like him could thrive; when good, meaty scripts were still prized and Hollywood invested in them.