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(Warning: Sports-related terminology, of both a British and American variety, is contained in the following review, including the usage of the term ‘football’ for ’soccer‘, references to 1970’s baseball managers, and the like. To find out whether the film is ’shot well’, is ‘well lit’, or is ‘an adrenaline-fuelled thrill ride‘, please consult the footnotes [...]

I’ve never seen a film of director Anne Fontaine’s (How I Killed My Father; The Girl From Monaco) before. I was reminded at a few moments in this film of the visual style of Sofia Coppola, which is a good thing in my book. I look forward to seeing Fontaine’s style grow and evolve in [...]

The latest film from Pusher director Nicolas Winding Refn, Bronson tells the story of Michael Peterson (aka Charles Bronson) the “most violent man” in British prison history. In what could be the best performance of the year, Tom Hardy plays Bronson, a lost soul who dreams of celebrity.

A year or so ago, I was looking at a photograph of Amelia Earhart and thinking “If they ever make a movie about her, I bet they’ll cast Hilary Swank.” A couple weeks later, I heard that Mira Nair (of Salaam Bombay and Namesake fame) was directing Amelia, starring Hilary Swank. The news seemed pretty [...]

“I have two luxuries to brood over in my walks, your Loveliness and the hour of my death. O that I could have possession of them both in the same minute.”  – John Keats in a letter to Fanny Brawne
How blessed we are to still find films that whisper to us. I first approached Jane [...]

Director Michael Mann’s fascination with the criminal mindset has offered both television and movie audiences some of the most compelling underworld entertainment of the last 30 years. While Miami Vice allowed him to buy a very big house, it was furnished via more intellectual efforts, such as TV’s Crime Story, the James Caan vehicle Thief, [...]

Julie & Julia is a very good movie. There are two parallel storylines: One is the story of Julia Child, the renowned chef, and the other is of Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams), a government cubicle worker who decides that the best way to get herself out of her doldrums will be to prepare [...]

Giulio Andreotti, the seven-time prime minister of Italy, has one take on his story told here in most entertaining fashion by director Paolo Sorrentino and actor Toni Servillo (Gomorra). Andreotti, still alive and appointed senator-for-life, has been tried, convicted, and acquitted many times for the murders and disappearances of rivals, and being Italian, perhaps he [...]

Trumbo, based on a stage play of the same name, tells the story of Dalton Trumbo. Mr. Trumbo was a novelist, a screenwriter, and an accused communist. As one of the Hollywood Ten, he was blacklisted for his supposed beliefs, and for refusing to name names during the HUAC trials.

The Soloist is a huge step above many of the DVD releases we’ve seen over the last few months. The film is based on the true story of Steve Lopez, reporter for the LA Times who, while out looking for a story, encounters the homeless cellist, Nathaniel Ayers. The movie tracks their relationship and, in [...]