“The Homesman” is easily the most bizarre movie of 2014. Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones, one of the most respected actors of the past three decades, co-writes, directs, and stars in this adaptation of a 1988 novel. It’s a western, set in the mid-1800s. There are no trains in the film, so to be […]
“Foxcatcher” is director Bennett Miller’s follow-up to 2011’s “Moneyball”, making this his second “based on a true story” sports drama in a row. The first trailer was actually unveiled over a year ago (September 2013) because the film was originally scheduled for release last December. However, Sony Pictures Classics decided to take “Foxcatcher” out of […]
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” is one of the most thrilling films I’ve ever seen – which is pretty amazing, since it’s not a big-budget, action-packed, superhero blockbuster. “Birdman” is being categorized by most as a dark comedy, though it’s one of those incredible pieces of work that’s very tough to describe in […]
“Fury” is one of the bloodiest, saddest, and most authentic-looking war movies in recent years. Director David Ayer (“End of Watch”) holds nothing back in depicting the gritty ugliness of WWII through a five man tank platoon assisting the Allies in finishing-off the Nazis in 1945 Germany. Brad Pitt, who won his first Academy Award […]
“Whiplash” is one of the great indie triumphs of the year. It is exhilarating and suspenseful – daring and dark, with two scintillating performances. Miles Teller (“The Spectacular Now”) plays Andrew Neyman, a percussion student at the fictional and prestigious Schaffer School of Music in NYC. In his first semester at the school, Andrew is […]
In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, lawyer Atticus Finch, played by Oscar winner Gregory Peck, must defend his client, even though he realizes he doesn’t have much of a chance of keeping him out of jail. 52 years later, Robert Downey, Jr.’s fast-talking lawyer whose heart is not quite so gold, takes on the task of […]
The opening scenes of “Gone Girl” are filled with so much rapid-fire dialogue and whip-fast editing that I thought Aaron Sorkin had re-teamed with director David Fincher. But then I remembered that author Gillian Flynn, who wrote the hit 2012 novel, adapted her own work into this screenplay. Set in the summer of ’12, “Gone […]
Two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington re-teams with “Training Day” director Antoine Fuqua to bring the 80s TV series “The Equalizer” to the big screen. It’s an action film with such over-the-top and unpredictable violence that it’s hard to imagine this version will ever make it onto broadcast TV. Sony is clearly counting on “The […]
It’s ironic, yet hardly surprising that “The November Man” was buried by distributor Relativity Media at the end of August. The best thing that can be said about this effort, based on the 7th book in the “NM” series, “There Are No Spies”, written by late author Bill Granger, is that it’s appropriately titled, because […]
“Let’s Be Cops” has one of the most basic, yet original, premises of the year: Two 30-year-old roommates, unsatisfied with their lives and careers, dress-up as cops for a costume party. But the outfits are so authentic-looking (complete with real hand-guns and badges) that everyone thinks they’re actually LAPD. They enjoy the power and attention […]