Jason Bateman in The Gift. Smart, uncompromising and timely, Joel Edgerton’s excellent new thriller The Gift is a sly little film that mirrors its main character in all the best ways. Unassuming and deceptive, the movie slowly sucks you in, leading the viewer down what seems a familiar path only to play against expectations, shunning […]
Movies
Posted inArts & Culture
Satisfying Mr. Holmes
Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes in Mr. Holmes. PHOTO COURTESY ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS One would think that, what with Sherlock Holmes being the fictional character who’s appeared in more theatrical films than any other, the well would be dry where coming up with new ways to portray and explore him are concerned. And while Mitch Cullin […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Business as usual for entertaining Entourage
PHOTO BY CLAUDETTE BARIUS Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, Adrian Grenier and Kevin Dillon in Entourage. Where Doug Ellin’s film adaptation of Entourage is concerned, it’s more of the same for Vincent Chase and his three faithful cohorts as they continue their Hollywood misadventures. And as well-done as the HBO series was during its eight-year run, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Aloha: Say hello to tragedy
Bradley Cooper as Brian Gilcrest, Emma Stone as Allison Ng and Rachel McAdams as Tracy Woodside in Aloha. PHOTO COURTESY Columbia Pictures Well, it certainly looked good on paper. With a script and direction by Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire) and a cast that features hot as napalm Bradley Cooper as well as Emma Stone, Rachel […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Madding a glorious, romantic throwback
Carey Mulligan in Far from the Madding Crowd. Unabashedly romantic, sumptuously shot and wonderfully acted, Thomas Vinterberg’s adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd is the perfect anecdote for the summer movie overload. (Yes, I know the season has just begun, but I’m feeling special effects weary already.) This is the sort of […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Ferocious Fury Road a grand vehicular opera
Tom Hardy as Max and Charlize Theron stars as Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures Like a Road Runner cartoon on steroids – replete with gizmos that surely came from ACME, Inc. – George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road is a glorious ode to vehicular destruction, outdoing the Fast and […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Furious 7’s only goal is to thrill
Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner in Furious 7. PHOTO COURTESY Universal Pictures There’s a great deal of anticipation surrounding James Wan’s Furious 7, the latest and posed to be the most lucrative installment in the greatest gearhead franchise in film history. Not only does the director have the unenviable task of trying to top the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
McFarland runs a winning course
Carlos Pratts as Thomas and Kevin Costner as Jim White in McFarland, USA. PHOTO COURTESY WALT DISNEY PICTURES Continuing their series of inspirational, true-life sports stories, Disney Pictures’ McFarland USA is a worthy addition to their cannon, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Miracle, The Rookie and Million Dollar Arm. To be sure, these are […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Son fails to cast a spell
Ben Barnes as Tom Ward and Jeff Bridges as Master Gregory in Seventh Son. PHOTO COURTESY Universal Pictures Sometimes bad movies happen to good actors. Such is the case with Sergey Bodrov’s Seventh Son, an adaptation of the first book in Joseph Delaney’s The Last Apprentice series – and likely the last. That’s too […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Violent: Much ado about little
Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac in A Most Violent Year. Like the only guy at a party who doesn’t get the joke, I’m wondering what it is about J.C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year that I’m missing. Riding a wave of good reviews (the film is trending 90 percent positive on the Rotten Tomatoes website), […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Black or White a flawed but noble look at race
Jillian Estell as Eloise and Kevin Costner as Elliot Anderson in Black or White. PHOTOS COURTESY Relativity Media Much like American Sniper, Mike Binder’s Black or White is likely to draw a disparate number of responses, interpretations and criticisms as it deals with the issue of race relations, a subject in which people are passionate […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Paddington stuffed with charm
Michael Bond’s Paddington books were not a part of my childhood, so I went into Paul King’s big screen adaptation of these beloved English children’s stories blissfully ignorant. I’m glad, as it afforded me the pleasure of being pleasantly surprised throughout. “Charming” and “delightful” are overused descriptors where films of this sort are concerned, lazily […]
