[8] Matt Damon carries this Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator) film based on the book by Andy Weir. Half the film is practically a one-man show, with Damon playing a NASA astronaut feared dead and accidentally abandoned on Mars for several years. The other half of the run-time is split between Earth and the returning Mars spacecraft. Once NASA discovers Damon’s character is still alive, …
[6] On one hand, The D Train is a conventional buddy comedy of sorts, about a loser who tries to redeem himself by convincing a popular former classmate to come to their twenty-year high school reunion. On the other hand, the movie is a bold exploration into material you just don’t see that often. The film stars Jack Black as the loser who becomes obsessed …
[6] Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd mostly succeed in saving this somewhat pedestrian thriller from Lifetime Movie territory. Freeman plays a policeman in search of a possible serial killer and Judd plays the one woman who was able to escape the killer. Together, they try to piece together her memories to find the killer and free the growing collection of young women he has collected. …
[5] Gosh. I guess I just don’t get this movie. I mean, it’s beautiful and all, and the performances are certainly something special. But what the hell do I take from the story? It’s so open-ended (thematically), it’s practically a Rorschach test — probably by design, but frustrating nonetheless. Joaquin Phoenix plays a WWII veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress who serendipitously falls in with an …
[6] Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci star in this southern tale of an abused nymphomaniac who falls under the tough-loving care of a recently divorced bluesman who wants to set her back on God’s path. If you can get over the fact that Jackson’s character literally chains Ricci to his radiator to keep her from whoring around, you’ll see how Black Snake Moans unfolds …
[8] Steven Soderbergh turns the directing reigns over to Gregory Jacobs for this sequel to Magic Mike, but stays involved as director of photography and editor (under pseudonyms). The sequel turns out to be superior because its infinitely more fun and far less didactic and moralizing than its predecessor. The plot is more scant than the men’s on-stage wardrobes, but for a movie like this, …
[8] Robert DeNiro directs from a script by Eric Roth this taught, engaging, mysterious, and surprisingly emotional story about the birth of the CIA. Matt Damon stars, serving as our window into a world full of secrets and deception. Damon’s reserved cool gives costars Angelina Jolie and Eddie Redmayne plenty to act against, playing the wife and son who always get second fiddle to career …
[8] It’s amazing how interesting a movie about an interview can be. Granted, the subject of the interview is the first American president ever to be removed from office, and the motivation behind the interview is to get him to admit to the American people his abuse of power. Frost/Nixon is based on a stage play by Peter Morgan and director Ron Howard (Apollo 13, …
[4] Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore star in this clunky mystery about a New York detective tasked with prying information from a distressed woman whose toddler was kidnapped in a stolen car, while also trying to prevent an escalating race riot. Yeah. Freedomland is a hot mess of a movie. Jackson’s two objectives don’t seem to have any connection to one another and the …
[6] After the success of Midnight Cowboy, John Schlesinger returned to personal storytelling in Britain with Sunday Bloody Sunday, a slice-of-life movie about a middle-aged doctor (Peter Finch) and a divorcee (Glenda Jackson) who knowingly share a bohemian lover (Murray Head). Reportedly largely autobiographical, the film is a study of three different characters’ feelings toward sex and love, and there’s no didactic message here, except …
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