The premise of “Locke” is simple, intriguing, and very anti-Hollywood: Tom Hardy (best known as Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises”) stars as Ivan Locke, a construction supervisor who decides to leave town and drive to London the night before the most important day of his career: a concrete pour for what will become England’s […]
What if the new next-door neighbors made your life a living Hell? That’s the better-than-average premise behind Seth Rogen’s latest comedy “Neighbors”. Unfortunately, even with a decent concept and cast, there aren’t nearly enough laughs to qualify this as a neighborhood must-watch. Rogen and Rose Byrne play Mac and Kelly, a young married couple with […]
I instantly became a fan of off-beat and quirky director Wes Anderson after seeing his 2009 animated masterpiece “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, based on the book by Roald Dahl, and starring the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Bill Murray. “Mr. Fox” actually topped my list of the Best Films of ’09. However I was […]
There have been many “secret relationship” movies involving famous people brought to the big and small screen over the years. “The Invisible Woman”, directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes as legendary author Charles Dickens, is most recent and one of the best in the genre. Fiennes skillfully draws us into this story, making time and […]
“Lone Survivor” is based on the true story, chronicled in a 2007 book, of the Navy SEALS “Operation Red Wings” mission in Afghanistan in 2005. Director Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights”) begins the film by showing us who the “Lone Survivor” is going to be. For those who don’t know any details of this story going in, this decision […]
Director Spike Jonze is known for his visually vivid films with quirky stories, including “Being John Malkovich”, “Adaptation”, and the dark, big screen version of the children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are”. In his latest, the futuristic romantic drama “Her”, Joaquin Phoenix stars as Theodore, a successful greeting cards writer who’s just getting over a divorce. […]
Back in 2007 director Martin Scorsese captured an Oscar for “The Departed”, a film that many thought did not deserve Best Picture honors, which it also won. For me, Scorsese departed from first-class moviemaking with 2011’s “Hugo”, which surprisingly, got some awards consideration. The 71 year old is back with “The Wolf of Wall Street”, […]
Meryl Streep is a three-time Oscar winner, who has given mesmerizing performances in such films as “The Devil Wears Prada”, “Julie & Julia”, “The Iron Lady” and many more. And while she is fantastic as wife and mother Violet Wilson in the big-screen version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “August: Osage County”, this has to be the most discombobulated movie […]
One year after director David O. Russell was able to earn all four of his “Silver Linings Playbook” stars Oscar nominations in their respective categories (the first time that had been done in 30 years), he did it again with the extraordinary ensemble of “American Hustle”, which is a smart, chic, sophisticated con-caper that’s hugely entertaining. A movie about […]
Joel & Ethan Coen are known for their off-beat and ambitious films which often mix comedy and crime, and feature colorful characters. “Raising Arizona”, “Fargo”, and “The Big Lebowski” certainly fall into that category. The Coens have also gotten gritty, beginning with 1984’s “Blood Simple” and highlighted by 2007’s Oscar-winning “No Country For Old Men” […]