GENRE: Drama

Movies Side Effects Movie Shot

Side Effects is the latest (and possibly final) film from director Steven Soderbergh. This effort brought me through a potpourri of feelings. I found it curious, compelling, dull, thought-provoking, thrilling, tense, sexual, smart and satisfying—in that order. This is not a film for anyone who has major issues with prescribed drugs as it starts off very […]

Movies Quartet Movie Shot

A retirement home for the musically gifted is the setting for a nearly-overlooked film that marks the directorial debut of Dustin Hoffman (at a spry 75) in Quartet. The namesake group is played by Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins. The home is populated by some of the biggest names in musical […]

Movies Zero Dark Thirty Movie Shot

Another week brings another Best Film Oscar nominee into focus with Zero Dark Thirty, the retelling of the hunt and killing of Osama bin Laden. The film stars Jessica Chastain as “Maya” who, may or may not have existed. My guess would be that she stands in as an amalgam of several key players of […]

Movies Silver Linings Playbook Movie Shot

Oscar-nominated director David O’Russell gives us a romantic comedy starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver and more. Each of the four stars have also been nominated in their respective categories and the movie’s been nominated for best picture. This is, without question, a quirky film that happens to have been shot locally […]

Movies Amour Movie Shot

One of the last films of the year for me, Amour,  is a highly-regarded foreign film that’s gaining a lot of attention of late due to it receiving several major Oscar nominations for Best Film, Foreign Film, Director and Actress. This French story focuses on a cultured married couple in their 80’s. They live a […]

Movies Hitchcock Movie Shot

For several weeks (months?) I’ve been acutely aware of the new Hitchcock film starring Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock. Anyone who’s seen a movie lately will know why it’s so easily brought to mind. Hopkins, in full character, has been greeting movie-goers to a funny parody asking people not to text during the movie as […]

Movies Les Miserables Movie Shot

The latest interpretation of one of the most famous stories in literature and stage, Les Miserables,  comes to the big screen as a musical. It stars Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean), Russell Crowe (Javert), Anne Hathaway (Fantine), Amanda Seyfried (Cosette) and more. I will say from the start that I’m a big fan of the stage version of […]

Movies Django Unchained Movie Shot

I’m not at all sure who Quentin Tarantino targets his movies to but, with growing regularity, I’m clearly not one of his targets. His latest effort, Django Unchained, had its release delayed in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy. After seeing it, I now understand why. I just wish it had been delayed to […]

Movies The Impossible Movie Shot

Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts star as husband and wife Henry and Maria, vacationing with their three sons in Thailand for Christmas. Their idyllic excursion comes to a brutal end when the infamous tsunami comes bursting through their resort and scattering everyone. The early scenes of the movie involve jaw-dropping, highly realistic recreation of the […]

Movies Any Day Now Movie Shot

Rudy, a gay female impersonator (played by Alan Cumming) has his life turned 180 degrees unexpectedly when he ventures into his neighbor’s abandoned apartment to turn down the endlessly playing (and loud) radio only to find her Down Syndrome-suffering child Marco sitting there left all alone. This story, supposedly based on true events (though I […]

Movies Life of Pi Movie Shot

There was something in the previews of Life of Pi that kept me from rushing to see it. To be honest, it looked a bit too fantastical for my tastes. I saw it last night and now lament every single day of having not experienced this wondrous story. The film is about Pi Patel—now older—telling […]

Movies Anna Karenina Movie Shot

I feel cheated. The previews for Anna Karenina did absolutely nothing to prepare me for the unique approach of this telling of the famous Leo Tolstoy story—and I suspect this was very much on purpose. Many people are probably familiar with the tale as there have been decades of books movies, plays and more. However, […]