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 […]
Film review
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Film Review: “Into the Woods”
Practically from birth, we’re taught by fairy tales that as long as we’re pure of heart (and determined enough) that there will come a day when all our wishes will come true; everybody gets their happy ending. Though experience tells us that is anything but the case, we like to comfort ourselves with these tales […]
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Film Review: “Big Eyes”
Told as its own sort of fairy tale (complete with storybook narration), Tim Burton’s “Big Eyes” brings an unusual story of artistic deception to the screen. In the late 50’s and early 60’s, Walter Keane’s (Christoph Waltz) kitschy paintings of sad, large-eyed waifs became wildly popular, bringing him fame and untold fortune when he had […]
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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: “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
I think most of us can agree that some of the best moments of Peter Jackson’s films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, “The Hobbit,” thus far have involved the malevolent dragon, Smaug. A spectacular blend of state of the art movie effects magic and pitch-perfect voice acting from Benedict Cumberbatch, Smaug was the true star […]
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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: “Foxcatcher”
The bulk of the awards season chatter for Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher” has centered around the revelatory performances of stars Steve Carell and Channing Tatum. As the distorted mentor and mentee at the center of Miller’s grimly compelling true-crime drama, both actors deliver transformative performances showcasing abilities beyond anything either has previously demonstrated. Tatum portrays Olympic […]
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Film Review: “Wild”
If “Foxcatcher” presents a tragedy of lofty aspirations gone horribly wrong, “Wild” gives audiences an inspirational tale of finding strength from within. While director Jean-Marc Vallée’s “Dallas Buyers Club,” left me cold, his new film is intimate and honest in a way that that film wanted to be but never was. Stripped of her usual […]
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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: “Nightcrawler”
Now that we’ve just about reached the midpoint of December, we’re officially well into Oscar season. Around this time, studios occasionally decide to give their films another shot at box office success, expanding their most prestigious releases into more theaters so as to better capitalize on any potential Oscar buzz, or alternatively, to create some. […]
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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 Homesman”
With its bleak, unsparing depiction of life on the frontier in the 1850’s, “The Homesman” stands in stark contrast to what we tend to think of as a traditional Western. Far from the romantic odes to the heroic figures of the Old West we’re used to seeing, the film instead delivers a mournful tale of […]
