Sully Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) In 208 seconds, I could make a sandwich, though it might not be my best effort and there’s a decent chance I spend most of that time agonizing over spicy or dijon mustard. In January 2009, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenburger and First Officer Jeff Skiles had 208 seconds to decide the best […]
Bridge of Spies Review
RATING: (3 STARS) In Steven Spielberg’s Cold War drama Bridge of Spies, Mark Rylance plays a man named Rudolf Abel. Accused of spying on the United States for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Abel is potentially looking at the electric chair if convicted. Legal representation is offered by James Donovan (Tom Hanks), who’s utterly […]
The 5 Best Leading Male Performances of 2013
I have way too many fragments of a Best Performances of 2013 list to not write something up. The idea to break apart the list by, for lack of a better term, Oscar category was born out of the desire to highlight some stellar supporting work, which sometimes gets ignored when talking about the very […]
Saving Mr. Banks Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The most cynical viewers will no doubt find John Lee Hancock’s Saving Mr. Banks unbearable. It’s narrative trajectory—stern woman’s icy exterior melts away—is hardly new territory, and the “Disneyfication” of the storyline makes this a film content to merely please, not challenge, its viewers. Mission accomplished, then. I found Saving Mr. Banks […]
Predicting the 2014 Golden Globes Winners
This Sunday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will carve for itself a unique place in the 2013/2014 awards season. How do I know? Because it must. There still isn’t much consensus among this year’s major categories. The critics groups like 12 Years a Slave and Her. American Hustle and Gravity have loads of support—some from […]
2014 Oscar Predictions: Resetting the Board
Click on over to my 2014 Oscar Predictions page to see everything I’m forecasting in the major categories. And check out my 2014 Oscar Predictions: Technical Categories page for projections in Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and more. I’d planned to dive a little deeper into Best Documentary Feature today, but I’ve got quite a […]
Captain Phillips Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Movie magic happens when the right actor finds the right director. Jimmy Stewart was the perfect everyman to navigate the twisted worlds of Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillers. In Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese found the ideal actor to bring his tough Italian leading men to the big screen. The list goes on and […]
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Review
RATING: (1 STAR) Stephen Daldry’s latest film, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, tries to make sense of one of the worst days—perhaps the “Worst Day”—in American history. It does so through the eyes of a pre-teen boy, who appears to suffer from Asperger’s Disease. And what does it ultimately tell us? That New Yorkers are […]
Toy Story 3 Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Rarely does a film come out at the absolute perfect time, but “Toy Story 3†is such a film. I’d argue this film isn’t made for kids—it’s made for those of us, like me, who grew up with the “Toy Story†characters. We watched as kids and went home wishing we could […]
Philadelphia Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) I went into “Philadelphia†knowing exactly what was going to happen and expecting it to be a manipulative courtroom drama – kind of like Kramer vs. Kramer. I was quite surprised, therefore, when I actually found it genuinely moving and honest. The three-dimensional characters and the bold way they confront the issues […]
Angels and Demons Review
RATING: (1 STAR) I think I might be one of roughly fifty people in the world who hasn’t read any of Dan Brown’s mega-best-selling Robert Langdon books. I tried to read “The DaVinci Code,†but I couldn’t get into it. That being said, I actually kind of enjoyed “The DaVinci Code,†the generally reviled big […]
