Crazy Heart is a nice little picture of redemption that hits all the expected beats and is solidly crafted from start to finish with a bunch of quality songs to enjoy along the way.
The story follow Bad Blake a past his prime singer songwriter who has been supplying hits for a young country superstar, Tommy Sweet, as he tours dive bars and bowling alleys poking his head into sobriety only rarely along the way. When he rolls into Santa Fe, Bad meets a journalist, Jean, that he at first tries to bed as any old groupie, but develops a stronger connection with her and her son, Buddy, and finds a bit more meaning in his life with Jean and Buddy in it. Added to this, his agent and Tommy begin really pushing him towards writing Tommy some new material and after an appearance as Tommy’s opening act at a major concert, Bad, begins to dream up some new numbers. Though the alcoholic inside him doesn’t let him stay on his high streak for long.
The film was shot for not a lot of money and first time director Scott Cooper does a nice job at getting the most out of it. [Read more...]
Review: Crazy Heart
Review: Away We Go
Sam Mendes quickly returns with his latest film which is the anti thesis to his previous Revolutionary Road and the results are a fantastic look at parenting filled with heart, humor, and soul all rounded out by fantastic performances from everyone involved.
Burt and Verona are in love, they are also having a baby, but they aren’t getting married either; and none of these things are really creating much of a problem either. The problem they really have is finding a home. The couple moved close to Burt’s parents because they wanted to be a part of their granddaughter’s life, or so Burt and Verona thought. When those plans go south the two endeavor on a road trip searching for a possible home for them to settle down in and they decide to head to places wear they know some family and friends are already in place. The trip takes them through a number of parenting experiences as well and it helps the couple formulate how they want to raise their family and shape their lives. [Read more...]
Review: The Dark Knight
Christopher Nolan returns with his follow up to Batman Begins and has crafted one of the finest comic book adaptations in film history.
Batman’s (Christian Bale) presence in Gotham is driving down crime, driving the Mob mad, and inspiring people like Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to make a tangible difference in the city. Enter The Joker (Heath Ledger), a psychotic madman, who gets off on anarchy, social distortion, and pure mayhem. He convinces the Mob to entrust him with the task of taking down the Batman and returning the status quo of criminal activity in Gotham to its once great order.
In the meantime, Bruce Wayne, Batman’s real life persona, is using his Wayne Enterprises to investigate a Chinese accountant who handles the mob’s money in an attempt to help bring down the Mob threat in Gotham with the assistance of Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman) and his Charmin of the Board Locus Fox (Morgan Freeman). If his life was complicated enough, Wayne’s dream girl, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is dating Dent as Wayne struggles with his desire to support Dent and his cause while longing the fact that he longs for Rachel, with his alter ego of Batman getting in the way of them being together. [Read more...]
