[7] Tim Burton reunites with Ed Wood scribes Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski for arguably his best film since 1999’s Sleepy Hollow. Amy Adams stars in the true story of Margaret Keane, the kitschy but iconic painter of the so-called “big eyes” painting series that became popular in the 1950s and 60s. Margaret was convinced to let her husband Walter (Christoph Waltz) take the credit for her paintings, …
[5] While I’d rather Terrence Malick make a live-action Pocahontas movie than Disney, the results are still far from amazing… and a wee bit boring. Malick focuses on a love triangle between our girl Poca (Q’orianka Kilcher), John Smith (Colin Farrell), and John Rolfe (Christian Bale). The first half of the movie is like Malick’s Days of Heaven, with Kilcher and Farrell running around in …
[6] Ridley Scott directs from a script by Steven Zaillian this true story about a New York detective (Russell Crowe) and a drug lord (Denzel Washington) whose paths cross in the 1970s to expose deep-rooted corruption in the police force. The film balances the screen time between Washington and Crowe’s characters, so we get both the plight of the humble man and the rise & fall …
[8] Tom Hanks stars as celebrated pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who safely landed his U.S. Airways passenger plane on the Hudson River after the unprecedented scenario of losing both engines to bird-strike shortly after take-off. Director Clint Eastwood lets this true story unfold with the greatest of ease. Nothing is sensationalized — all the emotions Sully evokes are earnest and sincere. I found it a very uplifting …
[3] A Jew and a Christian compete in the 1924 Olympics, both running in the name of God and adversity. I’m sorry to say I just couldn’t give a shit. I couldn’t empathize with their motivations. They feel God when they run. Good for them. It would at least be nice if the two competed against one another in the third act, but they don’t. …
[7] In colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness has an ongoing affair with a big game hunter. On one hand, Sydney Pollacks’ Oscar-winning best picture is long and subdued. But on the other hand, it does a great job transporting you to another time and place. The wildlife, cinematography, and music score (another fine work from John Barry) will whisk you away whether you want whisked or …
[7] Director Morten Tyldum makes this true story of Alan Turing and his team of mathematicians fighting the second world war from their college studies as thrilling and interesting as possible. Benedict Cumberbatch headlines as the socially awkward leader of the group, a closeted homosexual who has a ‘beard’ relationship with a fellow smarty-pants played by Keira Knightley. The drama comes mostly from within the group, …
[7] 127 Hours is the true story of a man who accidentally slips into a rocky crevasse in the Arizona desert where he’s trapped for days and must resort to desperate measures in order to survive. After the first fifteen minutes and before the last ten, the film takes place almost entirely within the stone entrapment, where actor James Franco and director Danny Boyle (Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire) keep …
[6] Paul Newman headlines this Robert Wise biopic about real-life boxing champ Rocky Graziano. Ernest Lehman’s smart, well-paced script sees Rocky through several youthful indiscretions that threaten to ruin him just as the lightweight championship comes within reach. Though he had appeared in one other film prior, this is the movie that launched Paul Newman to stardom, and it’s no wonder why — he’s magnetic. …
[6] There’s no director I admire more than Peter Weir (Fearless, Mosquito Coast), even if his latest film left me a tad underwhelmed. The Way Back is about a group of men who escape a Russian labor camp during WWII and risk their lives through thousands of miles of wilderness to find their freedom in neighboring Mongolia. The cast includes Ed Harris and Colin Farrell, …
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