I really like journeys to the past in movies, especially when they stop somewhere in the ‘70s or ‘80s. I’m sure that’s because of my age and my formative years taking place in those decades. (I still can’t imagine life back then or even college without some of the major conveniences like cell phones that […]
A confined cat, desperate to explore his tantalizing surroundings, is waylaid by a perpetual loser in Inside Llewyn Davis. Okay, so that’s not the intended synopsis of the latest Coen Brothers film, but it likely would have made a more entertaining tale than the one they actually produced. This period piece from 1961 features a […]
Two small-time con artists are forced to work for an egocentric FBI agent out to make his mark in American Hustle. It was October of 1972. I was eight years old when a man walked up to me on River Road in Camden, New Jersey. The man asked if I’d like to go to work […]
Iconic studio head Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) needs all the magic he can muster to win the screen rights to Mary Poppins in Saving Mr. Banks. The classic tale of the magical title character comes from a series of best-selling stories by English author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson). Mrs. Travers (as she insisted on being called) […]
When I first heard about the planned adaptation of The Hobbit, I thought that the book would translate well into a long, amazing movie. Later on, the project passed through many hands before landing back where it belonged in the lap of director Peter Jackson. In the era of adapting single books into multiple films […]
A elderly woman and a stodgy former government adviser join forces to track down the son she gave up for adoption years before in Philomena. In the 1950s, a young woman in Ireland let herself experience a moment of carnal joy, only to find herself pregnant, alone and ostracized. Social tenets of the day drove Philomena Lee (Judi […]
An aging socialite considers the allure of his surroundings and his place in life at the turn of his 65th birthday in The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza). The saying goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” and for Jep Gambardella (Tony Servillo), that’s amounted to a life of high-class socializing, including a […]
Hans Christian Andersen‘s classic tale The Snow Queen is reimagined in Frozen, Disney‘s latest animated feature. In the kingdom of Arendelle, there are two young girls — Princess Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) and her younger sister, Princess Anna (Kristen Bell). Elsa’s a precocious young girl with a very special secret — she can transform anything into ice and snow. As […]
It’s tough for a filmmaker to get a reaction from people when there’s not a lot going on up on the screen. For some people, deadpan and wistful might translate to unfunny and boring. Nebraska is one of those movies that will divide people into two camps — those who get what it’s all about and those […]
Victors of the previous year’s games find anything but the peace they were promised in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I need to point out right up front that I never read any of the incredibly successful books behind the films. As such, I can’t really speak to the faithfulness of the story from book […]
An aging father and his newly concerned son reconnect during an impromptu road trip in Nebraska. Director Alexander Payne has been at the helm of three films I absolutely loved: The Descendents, Sideways and Election. He also headed About Schmidt — a solidly regarded Jack Nicholson film that I barely managed to stay awake through. All […]
Part of the attraction of foreign films is that they introduce new locations and subjects to audiences that take them away from familiar territory. In some cases, you don’t have to leave American shores to have similar experiences. There are many examples of American films that take place in subcultures and feel foreign. Some of […]