“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 [...]
Read More Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, biography, Bright Star, drama, DVD, Fanny Brawne, Jane Campion, John Keats, Paul Schneider, PG-, romance, willDirector 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, [...]
Read More Billy Crudup, biography, Christian Bale, crime, drama, DVD, J.D., Johnny Depp, Marion Cotillard, Michael Mann, Public Enemies, R, thrillerJulie & 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 [...]
Read More Amy Adams, biography, Chris Messina, comedy, drama, DVD, joyce, Julia Child, Julie & Julia, Julie Powell, Meryl Streep, Nora Ephron, PG-13, romance, Stanley TucciGiulio 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 [...]
Read More biography, Bruce, drama, DVD, Giulio Andreotti, Il Divo, Paolo Sorrentino, Toni ServilloTrumbo, 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.
Read More biography, Dalton Trumbo, David Strathairn, documentary, Donald Sutherland, DVD, Joan Allen, Michael Douglas, Noah, Paul Giamatti, PG-13, TrumboThe 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 [...]
Read More biography, drama, DVD, Jamie Foxx, Joe Wright, joyce, music, PG-13, Robert Downey Jr., Susannah Grant, The SoloistI don’t know a whole lot about poetry, aside from the fact that some of it rhymes. But I do know that The Edge of Love, essentially a small slice of the life of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas molded into a cigarette smoke-choked wartime soap opera starring Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller, is one gorgeous-looking [...]
Read More biography, Cillian Murphy, David, drama, DVD, Dylan Thomas, John Maybury, Keira Knightley, Matthew Rhys, R, romance, Sharman MacDonald, Sienna Miller, The Edge of Love, warTo simply say that Waltz with Bashir is just another war documentary would be an understatement of sizzler-sized proportions. Writer, director, and fellow interviewer Ari Folman‘s roto-scoped documentary (think A Scanner Darkly) examines painful yet sometimes beautiful accounts of the Lebanese invasion of 1982. The interviews held are all proposed by Folman in his attempt [...]
Read More animation, Ari Folman, biography, blu-ray, documentary, drama, DVD, Jeremy, R, Waltz With Bashir, war“I think it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that way of support. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone.” — Sean Penn, on the passing of [...]
Read More A.I., biography, Bryan Singer, drama, DVD, Gus Van Sant, Harvey Milk, Milk, Paranoid Park, R, Sean PennI thought this was a very fun and engaging movie. The entire cast does a good job fitting into the roles given to them. This is a feel-good movie with enough drama and action to keep anyone entertained, especially if they love music.
Read More Adrien Brody, biography, Cadillac Records, drama, DVD, Etta James, Leonard Chess, music, R, romance, Tovah