The Big Short
I'm behind on my Oscar nominees viewing, but I finally caught this one. I'd expected it to be more like Margin Call, but thankfully, though its subject matter is kind…
45 Years
Going into the Academy Awards, Charlotte Rampling had a very good chance of winning a Best Actress statue -- for a while. But her ill-conceived remarks about the diversity problems…
The Choice
What can I say? It’s a Nicholas Sparks movie! The Choice is yours to make. As I’ve written many, many times in the past few years, if you’ve seen/liked any…
The 5th Wave
The 5th Wave is yet another weak offering typical of January that may hold some appeal to those hungry for something (very) remotely resembling a Hunger Games or Divergent style…
In the Heart of the Sea
They should have had a bigger boat. In the Heart of the Sea is sort of like The Perfect Storm meets Jaws – in the year 1820. It’s an epic…
Carol
The film Carol is gorgeous.The clothes, the sets, the cinematography. And the actresses - Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara - are both fabulous in this 1950s era forbidden love drama…
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a beautifully crafted old-fashioned story about a young Irish immigrant coming to America in the 50s. Saoirse Ronan (Hanna, The Grand Budapest Hotel) plays Eilis who is struggling…
Trumbo
Trumbo is set in Hollywood in the 1940s and 50s during the Red Scare, when the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was convinced that there were Commie spies planting propaganda…
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part Two
I had to re-read my review – from exactly one year ago – of Mockingjay - Part One to reaffirm what I already knew: Mockingjay, Part Two is definitely my…
The 33
Hard to believe it’s already been – and only been – five years since the internationally-televised live dramatic rescue of 33 miners outside Copiapó, Chile. It’s a story that was…
Spectre
Spectre is classic Bond. It’s got all the stuff you’ve come to expect from a 007 movie: the babes, the bad guys, the gadgets, the cool cars, the exotic locales,…
Woman In Gold
As the year comes to a close, I'm catching up on some of the films that slipped through the cracks. Woman in Gold tells the true story of Maria Altmann…
Room
I was ambivalent about entering Room, but I’m really glad I did. It’s a compelling drama with two stellar lead performances from Brie Larson and child actor Jacob Tremblay who…
Beasts of No Nation
The saddest aspect of many of today's conflicts is the presence of child soldiers, conscripted into becoming killers at a time they should be learning to read and write and…
The Walk
To enjoy this film you must a) get past Joseph Gordon-Levitt's French accent and b) have no fear of heights. The Walk is a pretty straight forward telling of what…