Kathryn Bigelow chronicles the decade-long manhunt for America’s Most Wanted.
Richard Gere’s performance gives life to this film that has some fine ideas but some confusing ideologies.
Forty years ago, on March 14, The Godfather premiered in New York City. The two hour film began what would become a veritable epic about a world-weary don and his favored son, both of whom try to hold their families together in a turbulent world ripe with war, politics, power struggles, and resentment. Based on the novel […]
Undefeated chronicles the 2009 season of the Manassas Tigers, a high school football team in North Memphis – also known as the perennial whipping boys for the rest of the state. Facing a fourteen-year losing streak, the team is taken over Bill Courtney, a volunteer head coach / lumber salesman in his quest to lead them to […]
In a number of portrayals of women passing as men, gender-bending is a method of establishing an identity. In Albert Nobbs, the diminutive, soft-spoken, ginger-haired Irish hotel butler (Glenn Close) becomes a man, in part to escape the brutality of men in a previous relationship, but more for anonymity. Albert makes few social statements through her disguise; rather, […]
The Artist is charming, heart-warming, and fun, but I’m still uncertain why it’s destined to win the top prize at this year’s Academy Awards. To be fair, I accept that Best Picture rarely means “the best picture,” but I’m still confused about the source of all this hype. Michel Hazinavicius’ film is cute. It truly is, and […]
…in the forest and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? This century-old philosophical thought experiment is often conducted to explore the connection between our realities and observations. However, If a Tree Falls, the newly Academy Award nominated documentary, contends, the answer to this question is: “No, which is why the aggravated […]
Last week’s Big Miracle flopped like a humpback in pudding, but this week, we’re all gearing up for Valentine’s Day. For those of you looking for dinner and a movie, you’ve got your pick between Rachel McAdams, Reese Witherspoon, or animation. (I’m banking on the animation.) Looking for a bit of action, but you’re single, Safe House […]
Similar to last year’s Restrepo, this year’s Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary, Hell and Back Again, looks at the trials and tribulation within the U.S. conflict in Afghanistan, centering, for the most part, on the rhetoric of our politicking. Various commanders sit down with Afghan elders and explain that “we’ll pay for [the damage we’ve created],” […]
On her way to Alaska, “where they need people,” Wendy’s (Michelle Williams) journey gets derailed: her car breaks down, she gets busted for shoplifting, and her dog disappears. However, Wendy and Lucy is less a tale of sentimental friendship between a journeywoman and her faithful dog and more a melancholic story about social and personal mobility. A […]