Les Miserables is an epic pop/rock musical adapted to the screen as a slight and claustrophobic show. Jean Valjean is released after 19 years of hard labor incurred from stealing a loaf of bread for his starving nephew. He vows…
William Friedkin and Tracy Letts get each other. They made that clear in their first collaboration Bug and the second go around proves it. Letts and Friedkin share a vision for Killer Joe and, for better or for worse, they…
Apologies for the lack of content this week. I had some big articles I’ve been working on inspired by various anime and manga series. In light of the recent tragedy in Connecticut, their subject matter did not seem appropriate. The…
O is the narrator and central figure of Savages. She works for and dates Ben and Chon, two friends who run the largest independent medicinal marijuana farm in California. After receiving a threatening tape from the representative of a Mexican…
When The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ended, I turned to my brother in the theater and said, “Well, Peter Jackson sure took liberties with that one.” I knew going in he had to. After the runaway success of the far…
Bernie is an adaptation of the real life story of the sweetest man you never met. He is a kindly assistant funeral director who randomly buys gifts for people in his small Texas town and leads the choir in the…
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is the story of seven British pensioners taking a chance on a new resort in India for seniors to retire in. These include a recent widow (Judi Dench), a man pursuing the love he never…
For a film all about male strippers, Magic Mike sure has a lot of charm, wit, and mostly clothed characters in it. Director Stephen Soderbergh and screenwriter Reid Carolin took real life inspiration from star/producer Channing Tatum to tell an…
A homeless woman begs for money on a busy sidewalk. An action star shoots an elaborate weapons sequence in a motion capture suit. A dying man consoles his grieving daughter. What do these characters have in common? They are all…
Anna Karenina is a challenging work. The novel, all 864 pages of it, is full of characters and dramatic circumstances that can seem unnatural or even unbelievable in modern time. The rigid social structures are the core of the work…
Silver Linings Playbook is the story of two adults living with mental illness. They come together to compete in a ballroom dancing contest that can lead them to their individual goals. For Pat, a man recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder,…
Imagine, if you will, the story of a director told in the style of the director’s films. Hitchcock takes a big stab at doing just that. John J. McLaughlin adapts Stephen Rebello’s non-fiction book about the making of Psycho into…
The marketing campaign for The Collection could be “Get in, get scared, get out.” This is one of the tightest horror films to come out in years. It’s a big challenge to build genuine suspense when you’re constantly moving and…
Ang Lee knows how to make a beautiful looking film. Say what you will about the substance of his storytelling abilities, what he chooses to focus on always looks good onscreen. Life of Pi is an ideal match for Ang…