Cinemascoping

While the film adaptations of The Hunger Games took full advantage of the dystopian adventure craze that swept through the youth literature sector, the similarly-plotted Divergent movies petered out, the final segment currently in production limbo, likely never to see the light of day.  The Maze Runner series falls somewhere in the middle, in regards […]

The saga of Tonya Harding was reality television before the term even existed. As a college student, I remember turning on the news each night as the attack of her rival Nancy Kerrigan was investigated. For a while it seemed as though there was a new revelation each night and as more of Harding’s life […]

More martyr than manipulator, Molly Bloom comes off as a fall gal for the rich and famous in Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut Molly’s Game, a true-life tale of high rollers, lowlifes, movie stars and other untrustworthy sort who get called on the table when they all get involved in the titular weekly poker match.  As […]

Defying the notion that crisp pacing is essential to the success of any movie, particularly a horror film, Insidious: The Last Key meanders along without a care in the world, seemingly caring not a whit as to whether it engages its audience or not.   Directing for only the second time, Adam Rotel employs no sense […]

The notion in public relations is that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.  That certainly has been disproven this year what with the many accusations of sexual assault leveled at many in Hollywood and beyond.  Director Ridley Scott certainly wasn’t going to let all of his hard work and that of his cast and […]

Director Cecil B. DeMille, amassed a fortune, entertained millions and skewed their perception history with his historical epics.  With King of Kings, The Plainsman, The Buccaneer and many others, he bent facts to his narrative will, included just enough truth to make his films seem significant and amped up the action to generate a form […]

Used as a metaphor in The Blind Side and originally seen as a piece of political propaganda, Munro Leaf’s The Story of Ferdinand has been a staple of children’s libraries since the 1940’s, selling on average 6,000 copies a week since its publication in 1936.  The titular bovine would much rather spend his time smelling […]

Reboot, remake, homage, rip-off, call them what you will, films that recycle old ideas have been with us since the early days of cinema.  If it’s successful once on the silver screen, studio execs are libel to keep going back to that particular well until it runs dry.  We’re in the period now of what […]

Ford, Hawks, Hitchcock, Scorsese, Eastwood and Spielberg, as well as too many other filmmakers to count, have returned time and again to familiar themes to explore at various points in their careers.  It isn’t that they were lazy and simply doing the same old thing, but rather they were examining topics that interested them from […]

There’s a righteous anger propelling Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and it doesn’t pertain simply to the plight of its main character, grieving mother Mildred Hayes.  While her fury is wholly justified, the writer/director is speaking to greater concerns than simply one person’s ire, addressing as well the sense of moral outrage so […]

A fascinating man with many conflicting attitudes and personae, Charles Dickens was a major celebrity from 1840 until his death in 1870.  His serialized stories were a sensation, captivating readers in his native England and the Americas, millions waiting on tender hooks for each installment. He was much in demand for public readings of his […]

There’s nothing new in Daddy’s Home 2, something that works to its advantage and detriment. The comedic dynamic between stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, the former doing his patented overgrown child routine, the later his tough guy struggling with his emotions shtick, is still in place as is the conflict between the blended family […]