Films set in a different culture than your own can be challenging. What is familiar to those entrenched in the culture can seem odd to those looking from the outside in. The outsider views the film from one angle while those on the inside may see it quite different. Enter A Separation, an Iranian film …
Tag Archives: 4 stars
Way late review: The Spiderwick Chronicles
Pleasant surprises come when expectations are low. Movies aimed at kids today are a mixed bag. Pixar has a solid record of rising above the fray. Then there are atrocities like The Smurfs. Some might blame the bad films on trying to turn questionable source material into cinematic gold. If that’s the case, I hear …
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Way late review: The Debt
The horror committed by the Nazis during WWII has provided no shortage of stories. As more true stories from that troubling time are told via Hollywood there is now an allure to tell fictional stories based on some loose version of that era. The Debt does its part as a film about a former Mossad …
Way late review: Redbelt
Life can be strange, both the real and the fantasy portrayed on the screen. Fact is often stranger than fiction yet how is it that fiction can seem so unlikely? Redbelt is one of those films that pushes believability to its limits as conniving individuals weave together a scheme which relies on intricate details playing …
Way late review: Courage Under Fire
Hollywood should thank George Bush for the war in Iraq. I think the wars there alone have provided no shortage of feature length films and documentaries – some them are even above average. Burn. The temptation is too great for most to politicize the war, no matter their political leanings. Instead of telling good stories …
Way late review: Martha Marcy May Marlene
Quiet yet creepy. Not exactly a drama, yet definitely not a horror film, Martha Marcy May Marlene paints a haunting picture of the effects of a Manson Family like cult on a young woman who fled the terrifying backwoods group and attempts a return to normalcy. Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) reconnects with her sister, Lucy (Sarah …
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Way late review: Young Adult
At least one definition of narcissism is stated as “Extreme selfishness, with a grandiose view of one’s own talents and a craving for admiration.” Or see the main character in Young Adult, Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron). She is the walking definition. Mavis writes young adult fiction. Throughout the film she struggles to write one last …
Way late review: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
What was Brad Bird (director of cartoon magic like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille) thinking when he grabbed the reins of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol? For all its star power and name recognition, Mission Impossible is often just what its title says. I am stunned that Bird did what others could not …
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Way late review: The Descendants
Watching dramas about characters thrown into tragedy along with their dysfunctional families can often be funny and not necessarily because laughs come at their expense but because they confront us about some (often painful) truth about ourselves and those around us. The Descendants is such a film. Matt King (George Clooney) is a lawyer who …
Way late review: A Better Life
Proving that making a point doesn’t have to happen as a result of preaching, A Better Life successfully tells the simple story of an illegal immigrant Carlos (Demián Bichir) who struggles to make ends meet while keeping his teenage son, Luis (José Julián), away from the gangs of East L.A. There is no doubt, A …