[7] In the final film from Stanley Kubrick, a socialite couple (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) get in over their heads when they decide to follow their adulterous impulses. This movie gets a bad rep, but I think it’s primarily because the casting of two superstars led to more commercial audience expectations. It’s a more intimate portrait than that, and beautifully made. I really love …
[8] Meryl Streep snared the best actress Oscar for her disarming performance as a Polish refugee forced by a Nazi soldier into one of the cruelest scenarios a mother could imagine — choosing which of her two children will die. The Auschwitz scenes, which unfold via flashback, are probably the most memorable ones in Sophie’s Choice, but I was equally (if not more) enthralled by …
[8] Score another point for Ben Affleck. I never much cared for him as an actor, but between this film and 2007’s Gone Baby Gone, the guy has shown us some serious directing chops. Argo is the true story of how the U.S. Government worked with Hollywood to rescue six Americans who escaped the U.S. Embassy during the 1980 Iranian hostage crisis. Affleck plays the …
[8] Two con artists (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) get roped by an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) into a scheme to bring down an earnest mayor (Jeremy Renner) and as many congressmen as possible. But when the mafia (headed by Robert DeNiro) get embroiled in the ruse, allegiances get dicey. American Hustle is from one of my favorite writer/directors, David O. Russell (Three Kings, Silver …
[7] An aimless playboy and a dorky middle-schooler become friends through serendipity in About a Boy, based on the book by Nick Hornby and directed by Chris and Paul Weitz of American Pie fame. Hugh Grant plays the playboy, coasting on royalties from a famous song his father wrote. Nicholas Hoult, who would later grow up to later star in X-Men: First Class and Warm …
[6] Cary Grant stars as Dr. Noah Praetorius, a well-meaning doctor and professor who falls for a troubled young woman (Jeanne Crain) while simultaneously dodging a jealous colleague’s (Hume Cronyn) perpetual witch hunt. People Will Talk is sweet if you stay on the surface of the story. I like the witch hunt storyline which ends with a darkly comic revelation. But the relationship between Grant …
[6] A high school student (Devon Bostick) causes a community uproar after conspiring with his teacher to present a fictitious report identifying his deceased father as a terrorist. Writer/director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica) is playing with religious and racial tolerance in light of 9/11 with Adoration. The film comes off a bit too much like forced social commentary, but the acting is decent …
[8] John Hillcoat (The Road) directs this true story co-written and scored by Nick Cave. Shia LaBeouf (Transformers) and Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) star as entrepreneurial brothers who make and sell moonshine in prohibitionist Virginia. The brothers already have an ‘understanding’ with the local law enforcement, but when a gangster (Gary Oldman) and a dirty district attorney (Guy Pearce) vie for a piece …
[8] Logan Lerman (from the Percy Jackson movies) stars as Charlie in this coming-of-age drama/romance about a socially awkward high school boy who finds solace among the ‘freaks’ while overcoming a past trauma that left him hospitalized. Emma Watson (Hermione from Harry Potter) and Ezra Miller co-star as Sam and Patrick, Charlie’s newfound friends. Together, the trio bond over music and star in a production …
[6] There’s no denying the pervasive corniness of Randal Kleiser’s adaptation of The Blue Lagoon. Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins play teenagers who have grown up in isolation on a remote island after being shipwrecked as children. The film half-asses the characters’ sexual awakenings (what the film is all about) and never stops testing your suspension of disbelief. But the film still works as escapist …
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