Iron Man 3 isn’t really an Iron Man movie for much of its run time, but that doesn’t stop it from being an entertaining and hilarious ride from nearly start to finish. [Read more...]
Now Playing Review – The Town
09/17/2010 by Leave a Comment
I have some confessions to make: Even with the persistent recommendation from a certain reviewer on this site I have never really had the inclination to see Ben Affleck’s first directed big screen film, Gone Baby Gone. (2) I seem to have a subconscious aversion to films involving bank robbery. No Inside Man or Public Enemies for me. (3) A certain upset in a World Series a few years back has led me to have negative feelings towards Boston. Clearly this film has a lot to make up for to win me over, yet The Town manages to quite easily. Silly preconceived notions…
The Town personalizes the criminal underbelly of Charlestown by following the character of Doug MacRay, a man who is neck deep in this way of life as a bank robber. He and his crew are quite the professionals, yet somehow he makes the amateur mistake of bringing his work home with him, as his friend so adequately puts it. What he is referring to is a certain hiccup to their life of crime glory when Doug somehow manages to fall in love with the woman they took as a hostage during their last robbery. Now Doug has a reason to try to leave his lifestyle, but unfortunately his ties in the community and the FBI’s interest in him are making it hard for him to make a clean break. [Read more...]
Review: The Town
09/17/2010 by 1 Comment
Ben Affleck’s second directorial effort is as strong as his first, Gone Baby Gone, and is a very good crime/bank robbery movie that is tough to complain about.
The film follows Doug MacRay, a bank robber, and his team as they run through a series of jobs which events lead to Doug wanting to finally get out. A former hockey protégé, Doug, turned to his father foot steps after he couldn’t make the squad; unfortunately his father was a crook and Doug begins working for his dad’s old boss, “Fergie the Florist.” It’s on a recent job though that Doug falls for a hostage that they take and riskily enters into a relationship with her. Added to this, the F.B.I. is coming after him as well and only needs some strong evidence to finally lock Doug and his gang up.
Review: Frost/Nixon
01/09/2009 by Leave a Comment
Ron Howards latest is a nice little film about history that does a fine job of humanizing Nixon while still holding him accountable, and is full of a number good performances.
Richard M. Nixon (Frank Langella) is the only president to ever resign from office, and in doing so a nation was cheated and robbed of the man admitting the errors of his way when he was pardoned by Gerald Ford. David Frost (Michael Sheen) in the mean time was a moderately successful British television host who, while having a show fail in the U.S., was still successful in England and Australia. Frost craved a return to the American spotlight though, and a return to the New York scene which he loved. Frost devises a plan to get back to New York by hopefully scoring the first interview with President Nixon since his departure and acting like a real journalist instead of the entertainer he was perceived as. Luckily for Frost, Nixon needs money and a chance to rebuild his reputation, and Nixon and his aides see this interview with an “amateur” as an opportunity to control the situation and put a positive light back on himself and his presidency. [Read more...]
Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
09/04/2008 by Leave a Comment
Woody Allen’s latest continues his recent string of high quality productions and nestles right between Match Point and Cassandra’s Dream as his second best film of the last 5 years or so.
Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is an engaged girl who is in love with her husband and the idea of classic love out of a book or movie and knows what she wants in her love. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is her best friend and polar opposite. She will be erratic and go out on a limb, sleep with someone out of love, and only knows what she doesn’t want in love, but not what she does. The two travel to Spain for two months summer vacation so Vicky can work on her thesis in Catalan society while Christina unwinds from the stress induced by a short film she had labored over for the last 6 months. [Read more...]
