What Robert Redford does with the expression on his face, the stare of his gaze, the slump of his shoulders – – – all work to demonstrate the true skill and craft that is acting. Whether he was perfectly suited for the role or the role for him, it is a match unlike most. I…
Dame Judith Dench delivers a performance that amazed me at her ability to show how deep shame can run and how strong a grasp it keeps on a soul. Her quiet looks, her grimaced face, her bright glimpses of getting past, only to see her shrink back beneath the suffocating covers of inflicted and ingrained…
Movies have made me cry, weep, and hide my head in angst. Before watching this film, none had made me want to vomit at the level of disgust at humanity 12 Years a Slave evokes. Many cultures in the past have enslaved, imprisoned, and suppressed and oppressed others. (Many still do. Human trafficking, alas, is…
The Book Thief is another book I picked up to “read before the movie,” and I’m delighted I did. The genre (1940s Germany) isn’t what I typically turn to, but the story is told from a perspective of a young girl that allowed me to slip into this time and tragic period and settle into…
Courage. That’s the word that kept coming to mind as I watched Captain Phillips. But the *best* display of courage I saw was not in what Captain Phillips did. It was not in the crew. It was not in the team of SEALS. It was in the medic who treated the man who had been…
“Hello, Wendy. I’m home.” And so it felt to this Stephen King fan—coming home. So perhaps that was to a creepy, sinister home, but one, at the same time that was as familiar and comfortable as some old sheepskin slippers. It had been perhaps twenty (at *least* fifteen) years since I read some King. Having…
Wow. As The Imposter begins, it takes a bit of time watching to understand the depth of the ruse carried off by Frédéric Bourdin (called by some a “serial imposter”). I rented this movie months ago, it sitting in its Netflix envelope on my table for the longest time. And I had forgotten it was…
Enough Said was a joy to see. The film displays a beautifully sweet honesty with its look at dating during midlife. The insecurities, the excitement, the laugher, the discoveries, and the ability to have fun, pure fun, with another, no matter your age—these things come together to create a feeling that it was more like,…
What a gifted writer! Ron Rash brings to life a compelling story in his novel “Serena.” It is unlike most of the novels I read, this being set in depression-era North Carolina. But its language paints so detailed and so colorful the setting that no matter the topic of the story, I am certain I…
Anger. Grief. Victimization. Joy. Hope. Helplessness. Shame. Trust. Outrage. Support. And love. Love. Short Term 12 is a movie that moves through the above things with the heart and openness needed to truly get a glimpse into the lives shared in the film. I laughed. I cried. I ached deeply inside at the hurt portrayed…
It took me a while, but I finally watched this movie on DVD. And I’m so glad I did: Rust and Bone is beautiful. It delivers a quiet, deep story about humans and our need for connection. In French with English subtitles, this movie shows characters here that weave through issues of relationships between father…
I saw this movie at the end of its run, and perhaps that was best. My friend and I were the only two in the theater. And the laughter coming from me sometimes made the dialogue hard to hear for either of us. What a hoot! This is the End is a hilarious portrayal of…
What a fun and fabulous film! (I should probably, however, begin by noting that I missed out on much of an education regarding things Shakespeare, and I was more than a bit intimidated at the thought of seeing this movie with friends who knew so much more—one of whom who has actually been to the…
I had wanted to see this film since I saw the trailer. And I’m glad I did. I wasn’t sure how I would feel, but I went. After the press went south for the subject, I had hesitated. And I had waffled—-how did I feel about such? But every time I waffled, I rested on…
The Impossible is a beautiful movie that reminds us how amazing—-in so, so many ways—-the world is. In watching this, through the tears that flowed often, I wanted to believe it was fiction—-that there is no way this could happen. But in watching this, through the tears that flowed often, I knew how true the…