Showing Tag: "drama" (Show all posts)

REVIEW: Oh Captain! My Captain! Mr. John Keating & His Dead Poets Society Seize the Day & Contribute Their Verse to Cinematic History (Carpe Diem)

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 14, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Dead Poets Society

Directed By: Peter Weir

Starring: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles, Gale Hansen, Norman Lloyd, Kurtwood Smith, Dylan Kussman, and James Waterston

Ethan Hawke has had a great last couple of years. He starred in Richard Linklater's critical darling Before Midnight. He also found commercial success in The Purge in 2013. He even had a supporting role in Linklater's coming-of-age masterpiece Boyhood earlier this year. With Robin Williams's passing ...
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REVIEW: Good Morning, Vietnam!!! Radio Broadcaster Adrian Cronauer Is Bringing A Little Levity to Saigon, As Well As Some James Brown

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 13, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Good Morning, Vietnam

Directed By: Barry Levinson

Starring: Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Tung Thanh Tran, Chintara Sukapatana, Bruno Kirby, Robert Wuhl, and J. T. Walsh

With President Obama waging war against ISIS, ISIL, or whatever the hell these nutcases call themselves, one hard reality that a handful of men and women in the service are facing today is that they're headed back over to the Middle East. That's a tough hand to be dealt, and I have to commend those brave few who will take on...
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REVIEW: At a Bus Stop, Forrest Gump Tells People How He's Run Through Football Fields, Vietnam, & the Shrimp Boating Business All For Jenny

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 13, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Forrest Gump

Directed By: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field

"Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwic...
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REVIEW: Drinking No Coffee, Fumbling Dumplings, & Fleeing the Red Knight, Janitor of God Parry Helps The Fisher King Jack Lucas Find the Holy Grail

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, September 11, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Fisher King

Directed By: Terry Gilliam

Starring: Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer, and Michael Jeter

Like many, I'm revisiting the filmography of Robin Williams as we close out the summer. With this in mind, I'm sure those of you who follow me have picked up on a pattern. I'm tackling Williams' more dramatic turns on the big screen. While I love him as a comedian, it's his comedic charms that make him such a standout in a dramatic setting. He was able to chann...

REVIEW: Soul Mates Chris & Annie Determine What Dreams May Come on D-Day by What They Paint on the Canvas of the Afterlife

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, August 30, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

What Dreams May Come

Directed By: Vincent Ward

Starring: Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Annabella Sciorra, and Max von Sydow

"Sometimes, when you win, you lose."
-Annie Nielsen (Annabella Sciorra)

As I've listened to different media personalities and fans around the world express their love for Robin Williams this month, they've all mentioned a handful of films they treasure in particular. They've mentioned films like Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society, Mrs. Doubtfire, Aladdin, and Awakeni...
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REVIEW: Catching Balls, Taking L-DOPA, and Moving with Ticks, Leonard's Awakenings Show the Will of the Human Spirit to Dr. Sayer

Posted by James Brown on Friday, August 29, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Awakenings

Directed By: Penny Marshall

Starring: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, John Heard, Julie Kavner, Penelope Ann Miller, and Max von Sydow

"His gaze is from the passing of bars so exhausted, that it doesn't hold a thing anymore. For him, it's as if there were thousands of bars and behind the thousands of bars no world. The sure stride of lithe, powerful steps, that around the smallest of circles turns, is like a dance of pure energy about a center, in which a great will stands numbed. ...
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REVIEW: Cheer for Dear Old Lean on Me As HNIC Crazy Joe Clark & His Ghosts Resurrect Eastside High & Lead Onto Victory on the Minimum Basic Skills Test

Posted by James Brown on Friday, August 8, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Lean On Me

Directed By: John G. Avildsen

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Beverly Todd, Alan North, and Robert Guillaume

"They used to call me Crazy Joe. Well now they can call me Batman!"
-Joe Clark (Morgan Freeman)

It's hard to believe it's been 25 years since Morgan Freeman gave us one of his most colorful performances to date as Principal Joe Clark in Lean On Me. It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years since a cantankerous Freeman saw the lightning crash, heard the thunder roll, and felt break...
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REVIEW: With Time Travel, A Presidential Commission, & A Pregnant Zira, Escape from the Planet of the Apes Scoffs at Conventional Narrative Wisdom

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, July 13, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Directed By: Don Taylor

Starring: Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman, Natalie Trundy, Eric Braeden, Sal Mineo, and Ricardo Montalbán

Beneath the Planet of the Apes has a pretty definitive conclusion. After all, just about everybody dies. The film's explosive ending could not kill Hollywood's addiction to sequels, however. Studio execs somehow resurrect the series and march onward. This is some pretty unbelievable stuff for the early 70s. This se...
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REVIEW: On the Upside Down Planet of the Apes, Bright Eyes Deviant Taylor Wants the Damned Dirty Apes to Get Their Stinking Paws Off Him

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, June 19, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Planet of the Apes

Directed By: Franklin J. Schaffner

Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter, James Whitmore, James Daly, and Linda Harrison

"Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the ...
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REVIEW: Frank Serpico, A Man of Integrity, Has Surfaced to Air the NYPD's Dirty Laundry

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, May 3, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Serpico

Directed By: Sidney Lumet

Starring: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Barbara Eda-Young, Cornelia Sharpe, and Tony Roberts

"The reality is that we do not wash our own laundry - it just gets dirtier."
-Frank Serpico (Al Pacino)

Since Al Pacino turned 74 recently, I’ve been reflecting on all the cinematic memories this storied veteran of the screen and stage has given us. Whether telling Fredo to never take sides against the family, telling the crooks of Miami to say hel...
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REVIEW: In The Insider, 60 Minutes Producer Lowell Bergman Challenges Confidentiality Agreements & Tortious Interference for Big Tobacco Whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, February 23, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

The Insider

Directed By: Michael Mann

Starring: Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Diane Venora, Phillip Baker Hall, Lindsay Crouse, Debi Mazar, Gina Gershon, and Michael Gambon

"You pay me to go get guys like Wigand, to draw him out. To get him to trust us, to get him to go on television. I do. I deliver him. He sits. He talks. He violates his own fucking confidentiality agreement. And he's only the key witness in the biggest public health reform issue, maybe the biggest, mos...
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REVIEW: With 30 Seconds of the Clash Between Cop Vincent Hanna & Robber Neil McCauley, You Know the Flip Side of the Coin Has Just as Much Heat

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, February 16, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Heat

Directed By: Michael Mann

Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Jon Voight, Val Kilmer, and Natalie Portman

"A guy told me one time, 'Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.' Now, if you're on me and you gotta move when I move, how do you expect to keep a... a marriage?"
-Neil McCauley (Robert De N...
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REVIEW: In Out of Africa, Baroness Karen Blixen and Game Hunter Denys Finch Hatton Fail to Enchant Us With Their Romance

Posted by James Brown on Monday, December 23, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Out of Africa

Directed By: Sydney Pollack

Starring: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, and Klaus Maria Brandauer

Don't take too much stock in which film wins the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Oscars are political, and the winners often reflect this rather than a more qualitative assessment of the films released each year. Given this, the cinematic popularity contest often gets it wrong. How else could you make the case that Slumdog Millionaire topped The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (and ...
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REVIEW: In The Sound of Music, A Female Deer, A Drop of Golden Sun, and A Name I Call Myself Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, December 15, 2013, In : 0.00% Water

The Sound of Music

Directed By: Robert Wise

Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Richard Haydn, Peggy Wood, Eleanor Parker, Charmian Carr, Nicholas Hammond, Heather Menzies, Duane Chase, Angela Cartwright, Debbie Turner, and Kym Karath

My title is a dead giveaway. I love The Sound of Music. With unforgettable tunes like "Do-Re-Mi" and "My Favorite Things", this undoubtedly stands as one of the great musicals of all time. With Julie Andrews of Mary Poppins lore headlining the film, di...
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REVIEW: Born Under Unusual Circumstances & Getting Younger by the Day, Benjamin Button Is Fated to Forever Be a Curious Case

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, November 24, 2013, In : 0.00% Water

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Directed By: David Fincher

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas, Tilda Swinton, and Jared Harris

“For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you ...
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REVIEW: From the Ghoul Gang Slaughters to the Dead Rabbits Dustup, the Gangs of New York Let the Blood Stay on the Blade

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, November 17, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Gangs of New York

Directed By: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Liam Neeson, Jim Broadbent, Henry Thomas, Brendan Gleeson, Gary Lewis, John C. Reilly, and Stephen Graham

"When you kill a king, you don't stab him in the dark. You kill him where the entire court can watch him die."
-Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio)

Legendary director Martin Scorsese's career can be categorized in two phases — De Niro and DiCaprio. Throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s, ...
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REVIEW: It Was a Dog Day Afternoon...Attica! Attica! Attica!

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, August 11, 2013, In : 0.00% Water

Dog Day Afternoon

Directed By: Sidney Lumet

Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, James Broderick, and Chris Sarandon

"Kiss me. When I'm being f*cked, I like to get kissed a lot."
-Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino)

The 1970s are often regarded as the Second Golden Age of Hollywood. With all the social upheaval of the 60s and 70s over the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, and a host of other issues of the day, there were plenty of things on people’s minds when they entered their local multip...
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REVIEW: Rounders is Still the Best Film Depicting Card Games

Posted by James Guill of PokerListings on Thursday, May 16, 2013,

Rounders

Directed By: John Dahl

Starring: Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Turturro, Famke Janssen, Gretchen Mol, John Malkovich, and Martin Landau

When the 1998 film Rounders was first released, fans of the game of poker hailed it for being one of the most realistic portrayals of poker in cinema history. Since the film's release, the game of Texas Hold'em has exploded and is now the most popular form of poker in the world. In the 15 years that has followed, several filmmakers have tried to imi...
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REVIEW: Win Win is So-So

Posted by Zach Davis on Tuesday, April 9, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Win Win
Zach Davis

Directed by: Thomas McCarthy

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Alex Shaffer, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, and Melanie Lynskey

I’m a fan of Thomas McCarthy’s two previous works, The Visitor and The Station Agent, but Win Win just doesn't work for me. McCarthy is much more a writer than a director. He relies heavily on original down-to-earth characters in most of his films, and this is exactly what Win Win sorely lacks. The characters are all disingenuous....
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REVIEW: Top Gun — No Points for Second Place at This Fighter Weapons School

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, February 24, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Top Gun

Directed By: Tony Scott

Starring: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, Meg Ryan, Rick Rossovich, Whip Hubley, and James Tolkan

Last year, we lost a fine director by the name of Tony Scott. With films like Enemy of the State, Crimson Tide, and Man on Fire to his name, it's time we revisit some of his films. With Top Gun being recently re-released to theaters in IMAX 3D, there's no time like the present to cover it. This quintessential...
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REVIEW: Love Sucks. So Does St. Elmo's Fire.

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, January 5, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails

St. Elmo's Fire

Directed By: Joel Schumacher

Starring: Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Mare Winningham

"[T]his isn't real. You know what it is? It's St. Elmo's Fire. Electric flashes of light that appear in dark skies out of nowhere. Sailors would guide entire journeys by it, but the joke was on them... there was no fire. There wasn't even a St. Elmo. They made it up. They made it up because they thought they needed it to keep them going whe...

REVIEW: In The Return of the King, the Pity of Bilbo Does Indeed Rule the Fate of Many

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, December 9, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition)

Directed By: Peter Jackson

Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Viggo Mortensen, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, and Liv Tyler

The third installment in a trilogy is rarely the best because filmmakers are always trapped by the conventions of a trilogy. They're trying to conclude the story and simultaneously outdo themselves. Just look to Return of the Jedi, The Godfather:...

REVIEW: The Breakfast Club Brings Together a Brain, an Athlete, a Basket Case, a Princess, and a Criminal for the Best Detention Ever

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, October 30, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

The Breakfast Club

Directed By: John Hughes

Starring: Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy, and Paul Gleason

"Don't mess with the bull young man. You'll get the horns."
-Assistant Principal Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason)

The Breakfast Club has been resurrected as of late. I've seen it on cable quite a bit. It's just been released on Blu-ray. It got some serious love in the recent comedy Pitch Perfect. It has even been invoked as a comparison poin...

REVIEW: While Love and Fame Can't Live in the Same Place, Country Music and Liquor Can in Country Strong

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 30, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

Country Strong

Directed By: Shana Feste

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, and Leighton Meester

I'm definitely not the world's biggest country music fan. In fact, I don't even know who today's top country singers are, and I can't name a famous country song off the top of my head. I'm simply not that interested in the genre. However, this doesn't mean that I can't appreciate a good tune or even watch a movie about the country music industry. What I do know is how to r...

GUEST REVIEW: Caché

Posted by Zack Mandell on Tuesday, September 18, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

Caché

Directed By: Michael Haneke

Starring: Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteuil, and Maurice Bénichou

Zack Mandell is a movie enthusiast and owner of www.movieroomreviews.com and writer of movie reviews. He writes extensively about the movie industry for sites such as Gossip Center, Yahoo, NowPublic and Helium.

We live in an era hooked on voyeurism. The major American television networks, which once thrived on scripted shows, have slowly transformed into purveyors of “reality” shows, s...

REVIEW: The Bodyguard is a Bad Mix of Business and Pleasure

Posted by James Brown on Monday, September 17, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The Bodyguard

Directed By: Mick Jackson

Starring: Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston, Gary Kemp, and Bill Cobbs

Earlier this year, we lost the renowned Whitney Houston. We lost a music icon who embodied an era of pop music. We lost a world-class singer who also dabbled in acting from time to time. We lost a legend. With that in mind, it's important to revisit her filmography as well as her discography. While she currently stars in the film Sparkle, she will be remembered most as an actress ...

REVIEW: It's All About the Closers and Their Leads in Glengarry Glen Ross

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 16, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

Glengarry Glen Ross

Directed By: James Foley

Starring: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, and Jonathan Pryce

"You never open your mouth until you know what the shot is."
-Ricky Roma (Al Pacino)

The gift of gab is a rare treasure, one that even few movie stars have. For the most part, the all-time greats are the only ones with this gift. They're those actors who can have monologues that go on and on, and yet we don't want them to stop. You may thin...

REVIEW: Hanging Up...Throw That One Back

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, August 9, 2012, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Hanging Up

Directed By: Diane Keaton

Starring: Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton, Lisa Kudrow, Walter Matthau, Adam Arkin, Ann Bortolotti, and Cloris Leachman

Sometimes a movie is so fluffy that I wish it was never made. I wish that Hollywood had never given the filmmakers a green light to make it, and I wish that I never decided to torture myself by watching it. This is exactly how I feel about the comedy-drama Hanging Up. Based on Delia Ephron's book of the same name, Hanging Up is a movie that just n...
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REVIEW: A Pie May Not Solve All of Life's Problems, But It Does Offer Sweet, Delicious Payback for Minny in The Help

Posted by James Brown on Wednesday, August 8, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Help

Directed By: Tate Taylor

Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, and Jessica Chastain

At STMR, I try and cover the latest and greatest to hit theaters. Every once in a while, however, a film slips through the cracks. Normally, it's just because of other higher priority films. Typically, it's some awful horror film or thriller that gets the boot. It's the film for which the trailer can't hide how much it will suck. In the case of Th...
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REVIEW: Jane Eyre May Be a Freeborn Spirit, But She Has One Messed Up Love Life

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, July 8, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

Jane Eyre

Directed By: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench, and Jamie Bell

There are always films that slip through the cracks that even I don't get the chance to catch while they're in theaters. There are so many hidden gems out there, and it's my mission to catch them all with a drink in hand. That's why retro reviews are so important to STMR. 2011 was a big year for a lot of young actors, namely Ryan Gosling, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Fassbender....
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REVIEW: For Your Voices, Coriolanus Has Done Many Things, Namely Kicking Ass and Taking Names

Posted by James Brown on Friday, July 6, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Coriolanus

Directed By: Ralph Fiennes

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Cox, Jessica Chastain, and Paul Jesson

It's hard to jazz up Shakespeare these days. After a good 400 years, there aren't too many new ways you can bring his works to life unless you're donning a cape and hammer like Marvel's Thor. Aside from my cheap references to The Avengers, Shakespeare's works have been done to death both on stage and on screen. It's rare that someone breaks new ground wi...
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REVIEW: Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona Shows Us Just How Romantic the Count City Can Be

Posted by James Brown on Friday, July 6, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Directed By: Woody Allen

Starring: Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Dunn, and Chris Messina

Woody Allen manufactures movies. He keeps putting out at least one new movie year after year and has been doing this for decades. As any manufacturer knows, quality control is absolutely critical to putting out a good product. Over the years, one could argue that Woody Allen has had some issues with this critical item. Ev...
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REVIEW: Get Lost Bub. That's All Vera Farmiga Has to Say to the Devil in Higher Ground

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Higher Ground

Directed By: Vera Farmiga

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Donna Murphy, John Hawkes, Nina Arianda, Dagmara Dominczyk, Bill Irwin, Joshua Leonard, Ebon-Moss Bachrach, and Taissa Varmiga

It's got to be really hard to direct and act in the same film, especially if the individual is the star of a film. As an actor, I can imagine that a person would be used to direction from someone else other than himself. As a director, there's probably no time whatsoever to get behind the camera. The dual...
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REVIEW: The Wise Guys Live It Up Like Movie Stars in Goodfellas

Posted by James Brown on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

Goodfellas

Directed By: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, and Paul Sorvino

"As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster."
-Henry Hill (Ray Liotta)

After The Godfather was released in 1972, mob films were never the same. It was the film that made gangsters cool. There were the Corleones, and then there was everybody else. With the exception of The Godfather: Part II, no mob film could ever measure up to the greatness of Franc...
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REVIEW: Titanic May Be the Ship of Dreams, But James Cameron Makes It an Awe-Inspiring Reality

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

Titanic

Directed By: James Cameron

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton, Kathy Bates, Danny Nucci, Bernard Hill, Victor Garber, and Eric Braeden

It's a special year for the Titanic. April 15th will mark the 100th anniversary of the tragic shipwreck in the North Atlantic Ocean back in 1912 that heralded the deaths of more than 1,500 passengers. Later this year, December 19th will mark the 15th anniversary of James Cameron's film base...
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REVIEW: 127 Hours Is the James Franco Show Plus a Nasty Little Boulder As the Guest Star

Posted by James Brown on Friday, February 10, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

127 Hours

Directed By: Danny Boyle

Starring: James Franco

Mountain climbing and canyoneering are dangerous hobbies, but the thrill seekers of the world don't seem to mind. They love to explore the wild, untamed parts of the world. Going into such isolation though comes with risks, and the life of Aron Ralston can show you a great deal about those. In his memoirs Between a Rock and a Hard Place, he documents his most horrific experience out in the wild and what he had to do to survive. Luckil...
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REVIEW: The Way Back Delivers With Stunning Cinematography

Posted by Zach Davis on Saturday, February 4, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Way Back
Zach Davis

Directed by: Peter Weir

Starring: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Dragos Bucur, Mark Strong, Gustaf Skarsgård, and Alexandru Potocean

Russell Boyd’s cinematography captures the isolation of true wilderness over a vast array of landscapes. The Way Back beautifully displays scenes of false peace through snow capped forests carpeting rolling hills, expansions of barren desert where the air seems to suck the life out of the gro...
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REVIEW: The Kids Are All Right is Just Alright

Posted by James Brown on Friday, February 3, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Kids Are All Right

Directed By: Lisa Cholodenko

Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson, and Yaya DaCosta

Family dramas are a dime a dozen. You don't have to look too long and hard to find a flick that's got some family values. You come into these flicks knowing what to expect, and you generally get it. A little creativity can go a long way in a family flick. That's why I was very curious about Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right. Wit...
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REVIEW: The Eagle Lands, Albeit in a Crash Landing

Posted by Zach Davis on Sunday, January 29, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails

The Eagle
Zach Davis

Directed by: Kevin Macdonald

Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong

Kevin Macdonald is mostly known for documentary pieces, and The Eagle marks his third time behind the camera for a non-documentary feature film. His previous works include The Last King of Scotland and State of Play. With this in mind, hiring a director that specializes in documentary filmmaking is a mistake that takes away from the story of the film. Documentarians are no...
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REVIEW: We’ve Been to Boston Many Times, But That Doesn’t Mean We Can’t Enjoy The Town

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, January 26, 2012,

The Town

Directed By: Ben Affleck

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, and Jeremy Renner

Doug MacRay: “I need your help. I can't tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later, and we're gonna hurt some people.”
James Coughlin: “...Whose car are we gonna' take?”
-Ben Affleck & Jeremy Renner, The Town

Are movies the only thing that can motivate members of Congress these days? Before a vote in the House of Representatives on the debt ceiling last year, House Majority Whip...
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REVIEW: Blue Valentine Is the Story Hollywood Doesn't Tell About Falling Out of Love

Posted by James Brown on Friday, January 20, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Blue Valentine

Directed By: Derek Cianfrance

Starring: Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams

Indie romance flicks are often so much better than the formulaic, crappy love flicks Hollywood manufactures. In an indie romance, you'll get a story with real people with real problems. In a mainstream romance flick on the other hand, you'll get an overly predictable flick starring Katherine Heigl or Sarah Jessica Parker that always has a sappy ending. If I had to compare them to drinks, a good indie rom...
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REVIEW: Colin Firth Gives a Royal Performance in The King's Speech

Posted by James Brown on Wednesday, January 11, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

The King's Speech

Directed By: Tom Hooper

Starring: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, and Geoffrey Rush

Whenever an actor portrays a British monarch well on the big screen, they've just earned themselves an Oscar nod at the least. I don't know what it is about portraying these larger-than-life figures, but I do know that any actor taking on a role of this nature will bring their absolute best when the cameras are rolling. Just look at examples such as Cate Blanchett's performance as Elizabeth...
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