Currently browsing the "Biopic" category.

Conviction

‘Tis the season of movies based on real events. 127 Hours, Fair Game, Secretariat, and yes, Conviction – a movie that sets the bar for sibling devotion.

127 Hours

James Franco rocks. Pun intended – but only sort of, ‘cause I’m gonna go out on a limb here and predict that Franco will get a best actor nomination for his role as gutsy mountain climber Aron Ralston, who cut off his arm to escape sure death in a Utah canyon in 2003. Ouch.

Secretariat

Secretariat is good, solid family fare from the company that knows the genre well – Disney. It’s a sweet, simple, root-for-the-underdog message movie that manages to maintain some level of tension and drama despite the fact that we all know how it ends. If you don’t know how it ends, then I apologize for the spoiler. Don’t tell the kids.

The Social Network

When I saw the early blurbs about this movie, I was thinking it would be either a big yawn or a lot of youth culture that would make me feel really old. But The Social Network is neither of those things. It is a really involving, well-made drama based on the story of the creation of Facebook (or as it was originally called, The Facebook.)

Get Low

Robert Duvall is without doubt one of the great American actors alive and the real reason to see the nice little movie Get Low. Set in 1930s Tennessee, it tells the true story of a hermit named Felix Bush who decided to throw himself a funeral party while he was still alive. Having spent 40 years living out in the woods in a cabin, he is a grown-old Boo Radley, the decent eccentric that the town has been making up dangerous stories about for all these years, that the children have feared for generations, but just have to go bother to prove they’re tough.

2010 Fall Movies

We’re moving out of the summer blockbuster kids’ movies and into the fall when traditionally a more serious adult roster hits the screens. This year? Well, there are a few that seem Oscar worthy, several with our favorite men headlining, a couple that look like real chick flicks and what just might be some nice comedies. See for yourself.

Summer Movies

Summer is upon us and where are the blockbusters? Here is a list of some of the flix that people will be watching and talking about. Not too much that is exciting, in my opinion, but I am hoping that some of them are surprising. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until September for a dose of Clooney.

Princess Kaiulani

What?? You’ve never even heard of the Hawaiian princess Victoria Kaʻiulani Kalaninuiahilapalapa Kawekiu i Lunalilo Cleghorn? Well, frankly, neither had I. But she does have an interesting life story that is told – and acted- fairly well in this arty indie flick, though it takes a half-hour or so to really get into it. It’s a rather strange hybrid of a movie – part biopic, part epic romance, and part docudrama with some scenes that are reminiscent of those cheesy historical reenactments found in documentaries we all watched in grade school (or at the museum). It also features some gorgeous cinematography showcasing the natural beauty of Hawaii.

The Last Station

This is a wonderful film! It should be on the expanded Academy Awards list for Best Picture, but sadly it isn’t. At least both Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as his wife Sofya are nominated in their respective acting categories. The Last Station is the story of the last years of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy’s life, his tempestuous relationship with this wife, his coterie of adoring sycophants who turned him into a cult figure, and a young man who became his personal secretary and family confidante.

The Young Victoria

To look at The Young Victoria for historical accuracy would be the wrong way to approach it. Screenwriter Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) admits to taking dramatic license in many places for effect. And it is effective as a coming of age love story set inside that gilded cage known as the British monarchy. The story begins with 17 year-old Victoria a heartbeat away from being crowned Queen, as her mother, the scheming Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson), along with her power hungry advisor (Mark Strong) attempt to set up a regency thereby taking power themselves until she is 25. (Mark Strong is also the villain in Sherlock Holmes, set in the same time period. Hmmm.) They control her every move, making someone walk her up and down the stairs, deciding what she can and cannot read, making sure that she is kept away from her uncle the King, everything designed to dominate her. But she is strong enough to resist them, though she falls instead under the control of Prime Minister Lord Melbourne.