J.J. Abrams produced, but didn’t direct, 2008’s “found footage”/handheld camera sci-fi thriller “Cloverfield”. It is, however, the film that put his company, Bad Robot, on the movie map – and made us all unable to look at the Statue of Liberty the same way ever again. Eight years later, Abrams is producer of the carefully-crafted […]
True-life sports dramas have dominated movie screens in recent years. We’ve seen biopics on iconic boxers, golfers, horses, baseball, basketball, football, hockey and even cricket players. Now comes “Race”, the story of legendary track and field star Jesse Owens. The title has multiple meanings as this two-hour, 15-minute saga not only focuses on Owens’ life […]
The Coen Brothers have crafted the latest in a recent string of movies about movies with “Hail, Caesar!” – a comedy designed around a major, fictitious Hollywood studio of the 1950s. Josh Brolin is terrific as Eddie Mannix, the head of production of Capital Pictures. Dressed more like a detective that a studio big shot, […]
The eighth film directed by The King of Big Screen Blood, Mr. Quentin Tarantino, is appropriately titled “The Hateful Eight”. Like “Django Unchained” (his 2012 western for which he won an Original Screenplay Oscar), “The Hateful Eight” is about two hours and 45 minutes long, though this time Tarantino adds an intermission – as part […]
When thinking about “The Big Short” during the drive home after attending a screening, I came to the realization that I didn’t hate this movie, but I had a difficult time coming-up with things I truly liked about it. Adapted from “Moneyball” author Michael Lewis’ 2010 best-seller, “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine”, this […]
“Macbeth” is one of Shakespeare’s most famous dramas. This latest film adaptation of the 400-year-old play is not updated or modernized in any way. It’s bare-bones Bard, complete with the dialogue directly from William’s pen and what all of Shakespeare’s tragedies are packed with: lots and lots of death. ‘Tis one of the grimmer pictures […]
Dame Maggie Smith is approaching her 81st birthday, but age isn’t slowing her down one bit. The veteran actress is in the midst of an impressive renaissance. She’s been the quintessential player in the PBS drama “Downton Abbey” and has given great performances in both “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and its even better 2015 […]
“Truth” is based on the real-life 2004 events surrounding a “60 Minutes” investigative report put together by veteran show producer Mary Mapes (played by Cate Blanchett), legendary CBS News anchor Dan Rather (Robert Redford), and their team, involving then President George W. Bush’s military service. On-record interviews and copies of documents obtained by Mapes revealed […]
Matt Damon plays an astronaut stuck on Mars in director Ridley Scott’s “The Martian”. But unlike another recent space saga – 2013’s Oscar-winning “Gravity” – “The Martian” doesn’t have enough dramatic pull to last its entire 2 hours and 20 minutes. This “Martian” is not named Marvin, but rather Mark. On the 18th day of […]
“The Visit” is the latest effort from “The Sixth Sense” director M. Night Shyamalan. His last several movies, including “The Last Airbender” and “After Earth” were both critical and box office flops. “The Visit” is being advertised as a traditional modern horror movie…with some touches of comedy. And it’s actually a pretty good film – […]