[7] John Madden, the director of Shakespeare in Love, serves up an adaptation of Debora Moggach’s novel about an eclectic group of aging Brits who manage to turn their lives around for the better at a rundown hotel in India. I couldn’t argue with anyone claiming this movie is a pandering, formulaic feel-good dramedy — it is. But when you have the likes of Judi …
[7] Director Jennifer Lynch (Boxing Helena) explores the relationship between a serial killer (Vincent D’Onofrio) and a young boy he kidnaps and raises to follow in his footsteps. Lynch keeps the film anchored in a dual character study and, despite a modest amount of gore, the most disturbing moments are when the mentor and the protege seem to be connecting. The film hinges on whether …
[6] Denzel Washington stars in this Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future) film about an airplane pilot who makes a ‘miracle landing’ after a mid-air collision, saving over a hundred lives from almost certain death. But here’s the rub: he’s an alcoholic, and the lawyers are out to frame him for wrong-doing, armed with a toxicology report and three empty bottles of vodka …
[7] The Place Beyond the Pines, from writer/director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine), is a family epic of sorts. The first third of the film follows a low-life motorcycle showman, played by Ryan Gosling, who turns to crime to try and provide for his baby mama and infant son. I dare say this is the best Ryan Gosling performance yet — you really feel for his …
[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 …
[8] Anthony Hopkins plays filmdom’s master of suspense in this movie that chronicles the director’s relationship with his wife, Alma, played by none other than Helen Mirren, during the making of Psycho. It should come as no surprise that Hopkins and Mirren are terrific. Hopkins’ best moment comes when Mirren asks him why Psycho is to be the next film, why when Hollywood decries it …
[7] At first, Spring Breakers seems like a beautiful excuse for gratuitous boobage, but as it unfolds, I found myself more and more engaged with Harmony Korine’s (Gummo, Trash Humpers) story of four restless college girls who flirt with darkness and wrestle with the consequences. Darkness ultimately arrives in the form of James Franco, playing a silver-toothed rapper/drug dealer who bails the girls out of …
[3] Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, and Rebel Wilson headline this flick written and directed by Leslye Headland (based on her stage play). It’s about three self-absorbed young women who somewhat reluctantly agree to be bride’s maids for a mutual acquaintance. Bachelorette is supposed to be a comedy, but it’s so darned mean-spirited and ugly, I had a hard time mustering any laughs. Am …
[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] 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 …
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