Played with gusto and panache by Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins, the new film Hitchcock hopes to give us a look at both the persona, the man, and the woman that loved him through and through during the time of what would be his greatest achievement.
Read MoreThe Sessions shows a heartfelt and honest portrayal what the idea of sexual satisfaction and conquest mean to a person, especially one that can't just go out and perform the way everyone else can. It's certainly an unorthodox path for a true story or a feel-good movie, but The Sessions succeeds in being extremely pleasing and thought-provoking.
Read MoreWriter-director David Mamet, if anything, is a student of the art of performance. Much like Martin Scorsese and Peter Bogdanovich, Mamet enjoys emulating old film styles with his eclectic work. In Redbelt from 2008, he takes a stab at the samurai genre of Akira Kurosawa. With no modern samurais in this world, he tackles to world and coiled discipline of mixed martial arts.
Read MoreTime travel movies are supposed to be a somewhat confusing clash of logic and curiosity about the future and Looper lives up to that trend. That's their fun and appeal. Looper's palette for the future, while on the bleak side, is far from preposterous and completely apocalyptic. It's driving story premise, while crazy, is far less ludicrous to accept and play along with than so many other and lesser time travel movies.
Read MoreRobot and Frank sneaks up on you. Maybe you won't think as lofty as I did about the impacts and elements of technology and mortality, but the film will challenge you enough to give you pause that equals its entertainment.
Read MoreThere's never a predictable moment in the entire film. With its recipe of unspoken magic, flawed relationships, and ideals on finding inspiration and perfection and daring to keep them, Ruby Sparks is a wholly different, unique, challenging, and satisfying romantic comedy experience.
Read MoreIngenious tells this true rags-to-riches story with a personable touch and realistic scale. Dallas Roberts and Jeremy Renner play a pair of extremely relatable guys and have outstanding chemistry together as characters and actors.
Read MorePremium Rush is a tightly packed and nicely paced little New York thriller. While the story is essentially a simple "beat the clock" scenario that maybe we've seen before, it offers decent twists to keep us guessing and clever plot-essential rewind flashbacks to provide exhale time and "ah-ha" wisdom of our characters' back-stories.
Read MoreGabriel Byrne is in the driver's seat and takes through the many layers that make up this film. Through his crooked ethics (more on that later), we gain crooked ethics to a fun slice of American crime. While Miller's Crossing can't compete with Goodfellas from the same year, the silver medal is not a bad prize to have.
Read MoreIt goes without saying that any movie with Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep is going to be well-acted, but it bears repeating with Hope Springs. I was constantly amazed to watch both of these two perform the hell out of their roles as much when they weren't speaking as when they were.
Read MoreIn honor of the passing of film and television star Andy Griffith this past week, the "Alphabet Film Club" (after I already watched and posted my piece below on the original top vote-getter The Frighteners) decided to substitute the other "F" nominee, A Face in the Crowd, starring Andy Griffith, in place of the original winner, as this week's selection as a tribute to the departed actor. Here's my "extra credit" write-up on A Face in the Crowd.
Read MoreSafety Not Guaranteed dares to keep your attention at every turn and really succeeds. The script is brilliant and deserves the praise it has already gotten. From diving deeper into Kenneth's world to seeing the different motivations that come to light, for both our time travelers and our magazine team tailing him, more and more layers of interest keep coming into play. All the while, you feel the countdown and are driven to wonder if Kenneth and his time machine are the real deal when the time comes to leave. This pace makes the movie breeze by and, unlike some other edgy indie movies that sell you with teases, the payoff is really rich and deserved.
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