The Extra Man
There are some actors who excel at playing a wide range of eclectic roles, high or low status, mighty or feeble, comic or tragic. There are some few of these who can do so and yet still can shape a...
View ArticleThe American
I have not read Martin Booth’s novel, A Very Private Gentleman, on which screenwriter Rowan Joffe based this film. I think that is the screenwriter of 28 Weeks Later can’t inject some adrenaline into...
View ArticleMonsters
A friend subtitled this movie based on its premise District 9 II: Immigration Reform, and we laughed at the brazenness of the writer/director/cinematographer setting the Infected Zone in the border...
View ArticleLet Me In
Let Me In Matinee with Snacks For those fans of the Swedish original (Let The Right One In) who are all up in arms about an Americanized remake, calm yourself. Director/screenwriter Matt Reeves was a...
View ArticleHereafter
Avid moviegoers may not be surprised by very much that happens in this film, from the opening inciting incident (one you can sense like a pending thunderstorm on a sunny day) to the quiet final scene —...
View Article127 Hours
I did watch it without looking away. Absolutely yes, it’s worth seeing. Oh, sorry, what was the question? Oh, yes, you do need to be in a pretty serene frame of mind, for certain. Finding a companion...
View ArticleMao’s Last Dancer
Mao’s Last Dancer Full Price Feature Oh, this film is lovely. I have done my readers a disservice for taking so long to review it. Please, go see it. In 1972, Cunxin Li, only a small boy, was one of 40...
View ArticleThe King’s Speech
King’s Speech, The Full Price Feature What a superb film. Colin Firth plays the Duke of York, son of George V (Michael Gambon) brother of King Edward I (Guy Pearce), and future King George VI. Bertie,...
View ArticleBlack Swan
Black Swan Matinee If you are not familiar with the story of Swan Lake, never fear — Aronofsky makes sure you can follow…before he leaves you in the hallucinatory, disturbing dust. Natalie Portman is a...
View ArticleThe Town
Full Price Feature If you, like me, were perplexed and put off by the ads and posters for The Town (think cars full of weird, wrinkly nun figures as the only salient image), please rectify your loss...
View ArticleThe Fighter
The Fighter Rental and Snacks Based on a true story, the tale of Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund [note: between the film itself and various online sources, I have not seen one that agrees on the spelling...
View ArticleRabbit Hole
Rabbit Hole Matinee with Snacks I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — often times, plays that are adapted into movies feel weird and stilted in their dialogue. Screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire...
View ArticleNever Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go Matinee with Snacks Based on the quiet and elegant book by Kazuo Ishiguro (he also wrote Remains of the Day), Never Let Me Go is a wonderful adaptation. Not only does director Mark...
View ArticleTrue Grit
Full disclosure: The first two times I tried to watch this Coen Brothers remake of John Wayne’s 1969 film, I fell right asleep. I’m a fan of the Coens’ sensibility nearly across the board, and of stars...
View ArticleSomewhere
Sofia Coppola grew up at her famous director father’s side, seeing the glamor and the tedium of Hollywood firsthand. She explored this dichotomy with brilliant directness in Lost in Translation, with...
View ArticleThe Company Men
Is 2011 too soon to try and tell a story that is sympathetic to the very greedmongers that were complicit in setting the depth charges on our economy in 2008? Maybe — but I would argue its proximity...
View ArticleOscar-Nominated Short Films of 2010
It’s difficult to see the Oscar nominated shorts — they play obscure or international festivals, throwing Oscar pools into disarray and forcing people to guess based on whatever available production...
View ArticleJane Eyre (2011)
As many long-suffering high schoolers did, I read Jane Eyre in 9th grade and hated it. Later, of course, I reread it and loved it! Even as I warmed to Charlotte Bronte’s surprisingly astute judge of...
View ArticleHanna
Matinee Hanna is a bit of a mystery. Played by the ethereal Saoirse Ronan, Hanna is introduced in no time as a cunning huntress, an over-educated killer polygot, and a total naïf. If you ever...
View ArticleWater for Elephants
When I finished Sara Gruen’s novel, I hugged it before I put it down. I just loved the feel of it, the story, the characters, and I was sorry when it was over. When they announced the film, I was...
View ArticleThe Informant!
The Informant! (yes with the exclamation point, though no more for the rest of this review) positions itself as a wacky comedy and a sort of industrial espionage thriller, adapted from Kirt...
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Your Friday Fix 9/25/09: Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Magical . Six hours is more than enough time for your life to get turned completely around. For high school student Yumiko Christina Ichinose, a confrontation with bullies is...
View ArticleA Serious Man
So close on the heel of one personal film (Where The Wild Things Are) comes this very, very personal film from the Coen brothers. So personal, I never felt a part of it. I have come to be a fan of Joel...
View ArticleAn Education
Based on Lynn Barber’s memoir, An Education plays out rather like a diary read. When you write of exciting moments in your life, you don’t need to elaborate on certain things, like best friends’ names...
View ArticleWhere The Wild Things Are
Occasionally I will mitigate opinions in this forum that I know will be unpopular when I am specifically writing a review of a film that I know carries a lot of emotional charge for people. In trying...
View ArticleThe Stoning of Soraya M.
It’s a tough sell, a film about the 1986 stoning of a woman. And yes, I mean the barbaric execution sort of stoning, not anything with a bong. It came and went in theatres like a flash; when I...
View ArticlePrecious
I am beholden to various entities to keep my review content PG. But in the interests of journalistic integrity, I feel I should report that in my cramped notes I dropped, for my own train of thought...
View ArticleThe Messenger
War movies — they’re everywhere. The terror of battle, the difficulty reintegrating after battle, man’s inhumanity to man, the heroism, it’s all been explored in film in different eras, different...
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Your Friday Fix 11/27/09: Kimi ni Todoke
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance . Sawako Kuronuma could be your average high school girl: striving for popularity, playing sports and excelling at her studies. However, her downfall lies in both her...
View ArticleThe Blind Side
If this wasn’t a true story, it would seem incredibly pat and manipulative and impossibly rapid. The Blind Side was based on the book Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, by Michael Lewis, and follows the...
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Your Friday Fix 12/11/09: Darker Than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini
Genres: Action, Drama, Mystery, Supernatural . NOTE: This series is a new story line in the Darker Than Black world involving some familiar characters and concepts. While you do not have to have seen...
View ArticleInvictus
With a brief background on Nelson Mandela morphing from political prisoner/terrorist to president of a new South Africa, Invictus then leaps into the real focus of the story: Mandela’s drive to unify...
View ArticleThe Lovely Bones
To prepare for this film, I read Alice Sebold’s dreamy novel, written from the perspective of Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) after she has already died. The novel wastes no time getting to the point of...
View ArticleMe and Orson Welles
A week in the life of a player in 1937, those early days of Orson Welles’ famed Mercury Theatre, might sound like it can’t encompass much, but you may be forgetting just what a towering figure Welles...
View ArticleA Single Man
A Single Man has such a simple premise, but one that is so ripe with promise, that it didn’t even need the added attraction of Colin Firth. George is a gay man (Firth) in 1961 who loses his lover, and...
View ArticleBig Fan
Writer/director Robert Siegel previously made a dramatic splash with his wonderful screenplay for The Wrestler. With Big Fan, Siegel shows his continued facility for taking a sad sack character who...
View ArticleCrazy Heart
Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) lives up to his nickname. He smokes and drinks and bangs groupies and slops around his existence like an exhausted walrus. When he gets on stage, however, his music sings to...
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Your Friday Fix 12/18/09: Winter Sonata
Genres: Drama, Romance . Note: This series is originally based on a Korean drama of the same name. All spoken dialogue is done by the original series actors but is airing in Japan for a 26 episode...
View ArticleAnvil: The Story of Anvil
On the surface, Anvil: The Story of Anvil looks like nothing more than a retread of Spinal Tap, even to the point of wondering, “are these guys actually real? I have never heard of them.” Anvil draws...
View ArticleBright Star
I am loath to confess this, but I really did not like this movie. On the one hand, the time seemed to fly by in that I was waiting for the actual story to begin and then what? 40 minutes already? On...
View ArticleNine
I didn’t really know what to expect, walking into Nine. Well, I kind of knew what to expect from director Rob Marshall (Chicago), and I knew Nine was sexy and kind of based on someone’s mental state,...
View ArticleThe Young Victoria
Many films and novels have examined the political maelstrom and religious upheaval that attended the life of Queen Elizabeth I, but Queen Victoria is not as well-known, it seems. As a female ascendant...
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Your Friday Fix 01/01/10: The Sacred Blacksmith
Genres: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy . In the Independent Trade City of Housman a young knight named Cecily Cambell patrols the streets. In her hands she hold her family’s sword, handed down through...
View ArticleThe Last Station
Despite the Oscar-nominated actors and performances, despite the moving themes of loyalty and love, the drawing of strength from a cause or from your heart, despite all this tasteful Quality, The Last...
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Your Friday Fix 03/05/10: Kuchu Buranko
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Psychological . Ichiro Irabu is an eccentric psychologist who seeks to cure people’s ailments in a variety of unorthodox ways. Ichiro takes three forms throughout the episodes; a...
View ArticleGreen Zone
In March 2003, all of America was worked up into a lather — half slavering to bomb Iraq and the other half struggling to restrain the first half. On the ground, soldiers did what they could and the...
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Your Friday Fix 05/28/10: Rainbow – Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin
Genres: Drama . Ten years after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, much of the country was still recovering from its post-war occupation by allied forces. Seven young men are incarcerated in the...
View ArticleThe Kids Are All Right
While I always try not to read or hear any critical buzz about a movie before I see it, some movies crawl into the cultural consciousness and become unavoidable. I had heard that enthusiasm for this...
View ArticleSalt
After seeing Angelina Jolie and Liev Schrieber talk about Salt and its deep textual layers, complex character stories, and levels of deception at their Comic-Con panel, I got the impression that this...
View ArticleWinter’s Bone
I have to say it — Winter’s Bone left me cold. The acting is very good, the dialogue is naturalistic, and the art direction paints a vivid, textured picture of rural Missouri that is both lost in time...
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