First let me apologize for that title, it’s inexcusably bad. But I had to come up with an excuse to talk about The Coen Brothers’ grimy and excellent western True Grit in the same article as the melancholy story of a country western singer Country Strong, which I think is just as well executed, if […]
There are two distinctly British films playing in theatres right now. The King’s Speech, one of Oscar’s top contenders, is a formal high-art story about monarchy, duty and the pressure of expectation. Made in Dagenham is a scrappy, spirited, populist film about factory workers fighting for their rights. The former’s principle plot is centered on […]
The new film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize/Tony-winning play Rabbit Hole has gotten some excellent reviews. If I were watching this film as an original story, who knows, I might agree with them. But as an adaptation of the remarkable play I saw just a few months ago, the film of Rabbit Hole is but […]
The Fighter is the latest effort from controversy magnet David O’Russell. Although he may be best known to the general public as being a brief viral sensation thanks to an expletive filled diatribe aimed at Lily Tomlin on the set of I Heart Huckabees . However, I have loved him since his work on the […]
127 Hours is a lot. And very little. And all sorts of things. It’s a bit of a slog, it’s beautifully shot, it’s the James Franco show, it’s bloody, it’s tough, but mostly, it’s pretty amazing. There are two superstars who really make 127 Hours what it is (aside, obviously, from Aron Ralston, the real […]
The true story of Valerie Plame, the CIA agent who was exposed by the Bush White House as payback for her diplomat husband speaking out of turn, is enthralling. It’s got built-in suspense, fascinating characters, some of the highest stakes ever to make it onto the page of a screenplay. The film stars the excellent […]
So far I’ve dealt only with Christmas movies that I’ve loved. This installment is one that kind of takes me aback a little bit when I watch it: The Family Stone. If you don’t remember The Family Stone, or if it doesnt grace your beloved Christmas-movies list, I don’t blame ya. It came out in […]
Earlier this year my father bought Life Magazine’s “100 People Who Changed the World”. I read the thing cover to cover. There were tons of omissions, none quite so confounding to me as Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. My dad didn’t understand why I insisted that the 26-year-old billionaire should be on the list, […]