In an unnamed African nation, child soldiers wield guns and machetes, swallow fistfuls of pills and hunt for a rebel leader called “The Boxer”. A coffee plantation is falling apart with no one to bring in the harvest. Workers are threatened by government soldiers, marauding bands of thugs, and their own [...]
Thursday 14 Apr 2011 |
blogadmin |
blu-ray, drama, foreign films, movie reviews, recommendations
“How are you going to go back to the civilian world?”
“I have no idea.”
A documentary is not the gospel, yet they’re treated most times as absolute truth. Sadly, most historical dramatizations committed to film are treated this way. Witness Oliver Stone’s JFK. We feel that “fact” is presented before us on [...]
Thursday 09 Dec 2010 |
blogadmin |
blu-ray, documentary, movie reviews
Triage is a solid if unspectacular war-photographer drama á la Under Fire or Salvador that, while not nearly as energetic as those films, contains some solid performances from a cast including Colin Farrell, Paz Vega and 86-year-old Christopher Lee.
Based on a book by war correspondent Scott Anderson, it’s set in 1988 and shows [...]
Thursday 12 Aug 2010 |
blogadmin |
blu-ray, drama, movie reviews
As a guy, I’m pretty much the wrong gender to be reviewing any movie based on a book by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook), but here we are with Dear John, a particularly nasty piece of dude repellent starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried about a pair of pretty young people and [...]
Thursday 27 May 2010 |
blogadmin |
blu-ray, drama, movie reviews, romance
The Messenger has a lot going for it. The plot line is unique and ripe with potential. Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster play soldiers assigned to the Casualty Notification Office – they are the ones who ring the doorbell of the survivors to tell them that their loved one has died. [...]
Thursday 20 May 2010 |
blogadmin |
blu-ray, drama, movie reviews, romance
The Men Who Stare at Goats is the first feature directed by Grant Heslov. Heslov is perhaps best know as a producer and writing partner of George Clooney. To me he will always be the guy who loved coffee in Dante’s Peak.
Friday 26 Mar 2010 |
blogadmin |
blu-ray, comedy, movie reviews
Brothers is a 2009 American drama-war film starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman. Directed by Jim Sheridan, the film is based on Susanne Bier’s 2004 Danish film Brothers (Brødre) which takes place in Afghanistan and Denmark.
Friday 26 Mar 2010 |
blogadmin |
blu-ray, drama, movie reviews, suspense/thrillers
Francis Bacon not so much with a brush but with scalpel strokes lay back the skin of a dark existence. Gauguin sought, found and painted his garden of Eden. Basquiat, careerist that he was, perhaps didn’t completely translate but at least jotted down semaphore signals from the streets. In films trying [...]
Friday 26 Mar 2010 |
blogadmin |
drama, foreign films, movie reviews, recommendations
Lately I’ve been a bit vexed by the phrase “action movie.” Of all the genres into which films are categorized, it might be the most nebulous and perhaps most likely to disappoint those who seek it. What exactly defines an action flick? A cynic might say that an action picture is one that uses violence [...]
Thursday 14 Jan 2010 |
blogadmin |
action/adventure, blu-ray, drama, movie reviews, recommendations
When I saw Adam Resurrected at the Telluride Film Festival in 2008, I thought Jeff Goldblum would finally receive some accolades for his acting – at least a Best Actor nomination. Instead, nothing. This strange, riveting and powerful film received almost no theatrical release, and no critical acclaim to speak of. Let’s give it its [...]
Thursday 24 Sep 2009 |
blogadmin |
drama, movie reviews