Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven shows what remained of the director’s interest in more traditional forms of storytelling. Like his more recent films, beautiful cinematography and stream of conscience voice over narration are dominate. Missing are the elements that some would label as self-indulgent. I won’t go quite that far, but let’s just say that …
Tag Archives: drama
Way late review: Like Crazy
Capturing the raw emotion of two people who believe they’ve found love at first sight is no small challenge for any film. Like Crazy attempted to do it on a relatively slim budget. And let there be no doubt, capturing the feelings of a couple who fall in love and then struggle to cement that …
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 …
Way late review: Take Shelter
After working closely with those impacted by and helping out with the aftermath of a devastating tornado I’m not crazy about watching films that have tornadoes as a central prop. Take Shelter is more about a man struggling with losing his sanity than it is about the storms around him, whether they be real or …
Way late review: The Ides of March
George Clooney’s The Ides of March is a political thriller that attempts to thrill with the revelation that human beings are not inherently good. Not much of a revelation and not much of a thriller. Ides of March attempts to make grandiose gestures set to menacing music and shadowy backdrops but ultimately ends up being …
Way late review: Higher Ground
Daring to tackle a subject that seems to be ever harder for even a small Hollywood film to cover as each day passes, Higher Ground paints a heartfelt and honest picture of one woman’s journey in and through and eventually out of the Christian faith. Corinne (Vera Farmiga) is a young girl at what appears …
Way late review: Warrior
I didn’t really intend on watching Warrior so soon after watching the entire Rocky saga. Netflix has this way of sometimes sending discs in not quite the order you expect. I wasn’t sure that I was ready to watch a movie that was likely so close to the Rocky flicks. Tom (Tom Hardy) and Brendan …
Way late review: Margin Call
September 2008. Feels like it’s been about ten years since then yet it’s only been a little over three years. Margin Call does its best to capture a 24-hour period at a fictitious investment bank during that dark economic reality. From the start the tone is ominous. The soundtrack is dark and menacing. An army …
Way late review: Rocky Balboa
It only took about 16 years for Hollywood execs to burn Rocky V from their memories in order to allow Sylvester Stallone one last Rocky film – Rocky Balboa. Unfortunately for Stallone this meant he was just about 60 years old. As if making one last Rocky film wasn’t hard enough. The boxing world has …