As I was on the way to the theatre to see Up, my friend, who had just come out of it, texted me “Bring Kleenex!” I was surprised – the previews make Up look like a silly Land of the Lost lark (nothing wrong with that). I was confident I’d enjoy it, I [...]
Gone in a blink and cleaning up awards nominations, Rachel Getting Married should have gotten wider distribution to offset the obvious horror of star Anne Hathaway’s other movie, Bride Wars. Perhaps someone thought we would be confused by two Hathaway wedding themed movies? Be that as it may, when this comes out on [...]
An icon in his own right, Clint Eastwood is a fixture, a flavor. His gravelly voice pushes all his characters automatically into the “crusty” category and the topographical map of his face renders him unmessable-with. In Gran Torino, also-director Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a crusty, unmessable-with Korean war veteran watching his Detroit neighborhood [...]
After a dark horse Oscar nomination for Best Picture, we got a chance to see this movie at last. Kate Winslet had been gobbling nominations and wins right and left for her work in this and in Revolutionary Road, and I must say that this is the performance of the two to honor. [...]
It may have been a mistake to watch Defiance in a double feature with Valkyrie. These two WWII movies could not be more different in tone, though both are portraits in bravery above and beyond reasonable hope. Where Valkyrie is very military and fawning, sort of, Defiance is gritty, earthy, trembling, and intense. [...]
Twenty years later, the battered face looking out at his fans is so weary, so changed, and yet full of regret and good intentions. Am I speaking of actor Mickey Rourke or his character, Randy “The Ram†Robinson? Either way, your heart opens up to the guy almost immediately, and by the end, [...]
Waltz With Bashir is a unique, arresting piece of work. As a documentary, it mostly trucks with events locked in memories, rather than assembling found footage or archival documents. A fellow Israeli veteran of the 1982 Lebanon War recounts his disturbing recurring dream to the writer/director/narrator Ari Folman, who was then inspired in [...]
This is one of those movies I saw the preview for and decided on the spot that I was not at all interested, like I was with Million Dollar Baby. Then, like Million, it got two zillion awards nominations and I know I have to see it now. I dragged my companion, who [...]
In 1977, David Frost interviewed post-resignation President Richard Nixon to give America satisfaction after his close-lipped exit of the White House. As a synopsis, that sounds pretty dry, but the narrative keeps the foregone conclusion only a trembling possibility, with the potential to collapse at any moment. Adapted from Peter Morgan’s play by [...]
The titular character of Slumdog Millionaire is Jamal Malik (breakout Dev Patel), an Indian Oliver Twist of sorts. He opens and intermittently propels the story from the 2006 present, when he is being tortured by someone’s goons, back to when he was about five years old. We discover through this framing device that [...]
