Category: Drama
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The Way Way Back Sam Rockwell’s take on Bill Murray
The Way Way Back – 2013 Written and Directed by Nat Faxon, Jim Rash Starring Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James, Rob Corddry, Amanda Peet There are some laughs nestled in this summer home coming of age in the age of divorced parents melodrama. There’s a fair amount of depressing stuff in here too. The Way Way Back…
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Forgotten Gem: My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done? – 2009 Director Werner Herzog Starring Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe, Chloë Sevigny, Udo Kier, Michael Peña, Grace Zabriskie, Brad Dourif Screenplay by Herzog and Herbert Golder Herzog and Golder were thinking of making a movie about the real life murderer Mark Yavorsky, who committed a matricide, mirroring the play of Orestes. He…
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The Place Beyond the Pines: Eva Mendes is still beautiful
The Place Beyond The Pines – 2013 Director Derek Cianfrance Starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Ben Mendelsohn, Rose Byrne, Mahershala Ali, Bruce Greenwood, Harris Yulin, Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen Screenplay by Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, Darius Marder There is a scene early in The Place Beyond the Pines in which Luke is told by the grandmother of a child he never…
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The Bling Ring: Crime in the Google age.
The Bling Ring – 2013 Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola Starring Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Taissa Farmiga, Claire Julien, Georgia Rock, Emma Watson, Leslie Mann The most striking thing about The Bling Ring is the ease with which the kids were able to move in and out of the lives of the rich and famous. In a time when Hollywood reaction to…
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The Great Gatsby: His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one…
The Great Gatsby – 2013 Director Baz Luhrmann Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke Screenplay by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce based on the book by F. Scott Fitzgerald “It was all for her. The house. The parties. Everything.” Daisy is his Rosebud. But she’s so much less. The moment his heart was fulfilled was the moment that…
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Forgotten Gem: Elmore Leonard’s Out of Sight – Made of stars
Out of Sight – 1998 Directed by Steven Soderbergh Starring George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, Dennis Farina, Don Cheadle, Albert Brooks, Samuel L. Jackson, Luis Guzman, Isaiah Washington, Catherine Keener, Nancy Allen, Viola Davis, Michael Keaton Screenplay by Scott Frank, based on the novel by Elmore Leonard There was a time, before I was married, when…
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At Any Price: A patent on life
At Any Price – 2012 Director Ramin Bahrani Starring Zac Efron, Dennis Quaid, Heather Graham, Kim Dickens, Clancy Brown, Red West, Maika Monroe Screenplay by Bahrani and Hallie Elizabeth Newton Things I don’t mind seeing: Any movie introducing the debate about GMO seeds. An actor attempting to move forward in their profession. Films about the difficulties involved…
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Forgotten Gem: Sayles’ Passion Fish takes us for longing
Passion Fish – 1992 Written and Directed by John Sayles Starring Mary McDonnell, Alfre Woodard, David Strathairn, Angela Bassett, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Leo Burmester, Lenore Banks, John Henry Redwood “White trash?” said Chantrelle. “It’s more complicated than that…” Mary-Alice replied. There is a mid-way through Passion Fish where Mary-Alice (McDonnell) sees her “more complicated than that” crush Rennie…
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Forgotten Gem: Sayles’ Casa de los Babys has something to show
Casa de los Babys – 2003 Written and Directed by John Sayles Starring Daryl Hannah, Marcia Gray Harden, Mary Steenburgen, Lili Taylor, Susan Lynch, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rita Moreno, Martha Higareda, Vanessa Martinez There is a point in Casa de los Babys that is startlingly different than most anything else that he has portrayed before. A somewhat muted…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 