Jennifer Aniston’s surprisingly long and crowded career, which really began with the successful television show “Friends,” includes a variety of roles in some occasionally unusual movies. Although she has mostly starred in chick flicks and romantic comedies (probably a result of typecasting created by the TV series), she has also played a few unusual parts, […]
George Grella
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Film Review: “American Sniper”
The picture begins with a sniper in position on a rooftop in Iraq, looking through his scope first at a young man, then at a woman and a child, questioning over his radio whether he should take the shot. The response, “Your call,” provides no guidance, so that in this situation and throughout the movie, […]
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Film Review: “Inherent Vice”
If nothing else, “Inherent Vice” demonstrates how far the private eye movie, a classic American form, has traveled since the days of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. In the new film, the tough detective in search of a hidden truth — played most memorably by Humphrey Bogart and some worthy successors like Dick Powell, Robert […]
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Film Review: “The Imitation Game”
In the past, Hollywood usually reflected American anti-intellectualism by showing professors as unworldly, unmanly, possibly even impotent buffoons, which makes “A Beautiful Mind” of a decade or so ago something of an anomaly. Like that movie, however, the two most recent depictions of professors on the screen, though also based on fact, feature two brilliant […]
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Film Review: “Unbroken”
Aside from the obvious, universally known classics, now and then a particular book or movie qualifies as a necessary work, something not only entertaining but instructive, a useful addition to the culture’s knowledge of the world and itself. Although her “Seabiscuit,” which suggested that a racehorse led America out of the Great Depression, succeeded both […]
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Film Review: “Foxcatcher”
The picture’s odd title, “Foxcatcher,” in effect explains itself in an introductory montage of black and white still photographs mixed in with home movies, showing images of horses, riders, dogs, and inevitably, rich people in fancy riding clothes — something right out of one of those British PBS television series. The title refers to a […]
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Film Review: “Exodus: Gods and Kings”
The Bible remains a valued source for Hollywood, and no wonder; it contains just about anything any producer could want. The Old Testament features the usual sex and violence, war and conflagration, but also great stories, compelling characters, and of course, the presence of a powerful supernatural being. To top it all off, it’s always […]
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Film Review: “The Homesman”
The appearance of “The Homesman” suggests that despite its present state of debility, the Western, that grand American form, still lives and breathes. This particular film, in fact, demonstrates the versatility of the genre, its possibilities for change and variation. It employs many of the traditional elements of its past, but handles them in some […]
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Film Review: “The Theory of Everything”
Stephen Hawking’s most famous book, “A Brief
History of Time,” has sold more than 10 million copies.
His personal story, as most people know, makes him a perhaps more compelling
figure than his contributions to human knowledge.
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Film Review: “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1”
The first and second parts of the “Hunger Games” franchise earned big profits and critical praise; they also inspired a good deal of trendy talk about empowering young women in action pictures, which seems to mean that the heroine wields a wicked bow and can fight and kill with the best of them. The new, […]
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Film Review: “Rosewater”
A great many television viewers, especially young people, apparently learn about the news from Jon Stewart’s long-running comedy program, “The Daily Show.” Stewart interviews prominent people, some hustling their latest book or movie. He shows clips of events that the mainstream media ignore or censor, and with the help of a series of comic “correspondents,” […]
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Film Review: “Interstellar”
Any intrepid voyager through the vast space of science fiction should recognize the origins and context of Christopher Nolan’s new movie, “Interstellar.” The picture owes a great deal to all those contemporary doomsday flicks, along with some special debts to the “Star Trek” series and the landmark Stanley Kubrick film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Its […]
