George Clooney’s latest directorial effort, The Ides of March, is sharp, timely, and impeccably executed by his actors and team behind the camera. [Read more...]
Film Review: The Ides of March
10/08/2011 by 4 Comments
Review: Mary and Max
02/19/2010 by Leave a Comment
Mary and Max is another quality animated entry from 09 which has proven to be one the strongest animation years in the history of cinema.
This stop motion animated tale is inspired by the director Adam Elliot’s experience with a pen pal and focuses on a long lasting writing relationship between a young girl in Australia, Mary, and a randomly selected man out of the phone book, Max, who lives in New York City that begins in 1976. Mary is a bit of an odd duck loner who makes her own toys and sends most of her time to herself. Max is a twenty something loner himself who shares a love for the same television program as Mary but also has aspergers and works a smattering of odd jobs and has a variety of awkward experiences. The two’s correspondence starts as a simple cute correspondence, but soon grows into a true friendship, sending each other sweets and presents, before taking an unexpected turn as Mary ages into a woman.
Review: Pirate Radio (The Boat That Rocked)
11/13/2009 by Leave a Comment
Richard Curtis’ silly, random, and plot-less ode to rock n’ roll, comedy easily overcomes any of its own short comings by having a knock out cast and a number of good laughs along the way.
Back in the sixties when British rock was at an all time high, the British government didn’t allow the music to be broadcast over the radio. To counter act this a number of rebel sects launched pirate radio stations that broadcast from the North Sea evading laws and circumventing the bans by the government controlled stations. Our focus is on a boat/station Radio Rock that is full of interesting characters/DJ’s that allow for some weird and wacky fun to unfold over the course of the film. The problem that some people will find with the film though is its lack of any real structure or plot. If you can look past this, which isn’t too hard to do, then you will find plenty of fun to be had along the way. [Read more...]
Review: Doubt
01/06/2009 by Leave a Comment
The film adaptation of this award winning play is superbly acted, beautifully shot, and while maybe a bit long winded from time to time, it remains constantly engaging and keeps you guessing and talking after the film is over.
Sister James (Amy Adams) is the newest sister and teacher at the local Bronx church school which is run by Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meyrl Streep), a old school, tough as nails nun that hands out punishment at will and always looking to straighten some one out. Sister Aloysius is also always looking out for the best for her church and school, and the newest priest, Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), has popped up on her radar. Flynn is seeking change in the church, Flynn is a threat to Aloysius and her ways and when Sister James notices an odd behavior from the school’s only black student Donald Miller after he was called to the rectory by Father Flynn. Aloysius reading into the encounter assumes the worst, and quickly gets the naive and vulnerable Sister James behind her in her investigation. A game of posturing and positioning between Flynn and Aloysius begins, while Aloysius turns over every stone to pin her accusations on Flynn. [Read more...]
Review: Synecdoche, New York
11/20/2008 by Leave a Comment
Charlie Kaufman is back in his most ambitious, intriguing, bizarre, and out there script yet and at the helm he creates a thought provoking piece of work, that demands a second viewing.
Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a successful play director, with a bit of a strained marriage to his wife Adele (Catherine Keener), as he plods through life and marriage counseling with little happiness and a sad demeanor. After successfully opening his “young” version of the Death of a Salesman he is awarded a grant to create something amazing and original, in which Caden begins investing his thoughts and time into coming up with his spectacular idea. Getting in the way of all of this is his fear of death and medical sickness and a quickly degenerating marriage, and before we know it, Caden is renting out a giant warehouse to begin rehearsing his play.
I will share no more, as with any Kaufman film less is definitely more, and encourage that if you have any interest in the film that you stop reading now and just experience it as fresh as possible. [Read more...]
Review: The Savages
01/21/2008 by Leave a Comment
This wonderful little film from Tamara Jenkins is a look at the guilt that surroundings putting a loved one in a nursing home surrounding a couple of characters that are right out of a Wes Anderson/Noah Baumbach film. While the sister/brother combo in this film isn’t as eccentric as some of the characters in those other directors films, they are both a bit emotionally distressed and act a bit younger than their ages say they should. [Read more...]
Review: Charlie Wilson's War
12/27/2007 by Leave a Comment
Mike Nichols new film is a great piece of history through film with a story that few people probably have heard of or know much about in the first place.
Tom Hanks stars as the title character; a congressman from a small district in Texas that you would think didn’t have much power, but has a direct impact on the outcome of the cold war. [Read more...]
Review: Before the Devil Knows Your Dead
12/03/2007 by Leave a Comment
Sidney Lumet’s new film is an interesting take on the crime drama, by taking a small simple crime and examining the consequences of what can happen if everything went wrong. The movie is a very intimate look into the lives of everyone involved and can be even more intimate than most crime films due to the interconnections between all the characters we focus on. [Read more...]
