The Duplass Brothers and their unparalleled taste as producers have facilitated yet another extraordinary cinematic moment by partnering with an up-and-coming writer/director in the form of Hannah Fidell. According to Wikipedia, Mark Duplass approached Fidell about writing a film that touched on domestic abuse and, rather than give us a horror show cautionary tale or […]
Director Michael Almereyda’s thrilling new film adaptation of the strange and semi-obscure Shakespeare play Cymbeline begins with three words on the screen- “Keep Your Head”. It’s the name of the production company and a reference to the eventual demise of one of the characters (a brutal death that, because Cymbeline is all over the place […]
There is often a complaint about a lot of mobster films in that they glorify organized crime. That is not the case in this dramatic biopic covering the history of James ‘Whitey’ Bulger (Johnny Depp). Gone are the blood ties and familial/friendship bonds portrayed in films like The Godfather, Goodfellas and Depp’s own Donnie Brasco. […]
It’s time, once again, for the On DVD series featuring new releases from Paramount Home Distribution and Elevation Pictures. Prestige Films from Elevation The Gunman: This low-profile, high star-power formula action movie is everything you either really love or really hate about action movies. The film isn’t anything special but the actors- Sean Penn, Idris Elba, Mark Rylance, […]
When the epilogue ended and the house lights came up in the movie theatre where I saw Love & Mercy, no one moved. The real Brian Wilson was on screen in unflattering close-up as he sang the title song, live and imperfectly, accompanied by barely a breath of sound from the audience watching the credits […]
Harkening back to sci fi classics such as Forbidden Planet, the majority of Ex Machina is constituted of philosophical discussion and games of verbal chess. These discussions broach many thoughts on the nature of humanity, god/creation and the illusion of self in the digital era. Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is an employee at Bluebook who wins […]
It’s time, once again, for the On DVD series featuring new releases from Paramount Home Distribution. Selma (May 5) If you’re going to buy a movie on DVD (and I understand why you wouldn’t), this is the one to get. The Blu-ray/DVD/Digital combo pack is pricey ($39.99; a better deal than the bare-bones DVD at 29.99) […]
It’s time, once again, for the On DVD series featuring new releases from Paramount and Elevation Pictures. The Imitation Game (Elevation Pictures, March 31) The re-watch value on this Oscar-winning WWII thriller is high thanks to superb performances from the entire cast (led by Benedict Cumberbatch with a ton of key supporting turns, including Keira Knightley and […]