Though they are often confused this time of the year, there’s a big difference between lists of Best Films of the Year and Favorite Films of the Year. Often the same movie can fit into both categories, but clearly that’s not always the case. There were a lot of films this past year that I […]
From “The Help” and “The Tree of Life” to “Zero Dark Thirty” and “A Most Violent Year”, Jessica Chastain has consistently delivered fiery performances. You can add her latest effort in “Miss Sloane” to that list. Chastain dominates every scene she’s in (which is most of them) as a fast-talking, win at all cost, DC political […]
In Disney’s “Moana”, the title heroine sings a song called “How Far I’ll Go” (which is performed in its entirety twice and reprised two more times). In it, there’s a line that perfectly sums-up this movie: “Everything is by design”. With this latest effort, Disney shows it’s till stuck in the 90s, serving-up a formulaic, […]
For centuries, the greatest sailors in the world masterfully navigated the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, 3,000 years ago, their voyages stopped for a millennium – and no one knows exactly why. From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who is […]
The beauty of “Lion” is its very simple, yet extremely powerful story. It’s based on a true one (and the less you know about it going in, the better). The way screenwriter Luke Davies and first-time feature film director Garth Davis (“Top of the Lake”) have adapted “Lion” from the page (the 2013 memoir, A Long […]