The best thing about seeing movies this time of year is the prevalence of high caliber films. Three Billboards is one such film. It isn’t flawless. But it is a fine film falling easily at the top of the list for the year. If you’ve seen the preview, you aren’t surprised when I say revenge…
When I saw the trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane, I’m sure I rolled my eyes. After asking if it was a remake/follow-up and hearing yes, I even commented to my friend with me that day, “Oh, no, well, then I cannot possibly see this because I would be completely lost.” Yes, a sarcastic tone accompanied my…
About five years ago, my dear friend and frequent movie companion put his total trust in me, and we went to see the animated (almost silent save for a few lines in Gaelic) French-Scottish film, The Illusionist (L’Illusionniste, 2010). I’ve never lived it down. Today, he indicated that we’d hit a new low. 😉 Okay, so not…
The Revenant was among the top five (or so) most-anticipated films for me this year. The previews promised drama, suspense, and amazing landscape as a backdrop. The film, an epic early 1800s piece focusing on survival and revenge, did not disappoint. After seeing the film, I remarked to a friend that it was good, but…
I’m not sure if Tarantino has mellowed or improved or reined in what before felt like too-scattered, too-off-key, too-*too* something films, but I’ve very much enjoyed his last two flicks, this most recent being The Hateful Eight. Please don’t misunderstand me: this is still very much a Tarantino film; his signature is all over it…
Fates and Furies was an interesting read—written first from the perspective of the husband in this complicated relationship, then from the perspective of his wife. Their love seemed to take hold early with a brightly glowing flame, but as with many things that look so easy on the surface, darkness and secrets lingered underneath. The book…
I think I visibly jumped (and grabbed my movie companion) at least three times while watching The Gift, so I’m comfortable in saying that as a suspenseful movie, it did its job. And it entertained. For a couple of hours on a rainy Sunday summer afternoon, I immersed myself in the story of this midlife…
My timing in seeing films sometimes causes wonder in me. Watching the painfully self-destructive, fatal behavior of an addict on the screen rips at my heart. Seeing the vacant stare that hides the apparent hurt and pain behind those eyes brings such sadness. These are the things that rang out to me in watching Amy, the…
The trailer for Inherent Vice made it seem that this movie would be a fun, quirky (albeit a little dark) movie with a fantastic cast. At the end of the film, the only word I really came up with, though, was “bizarre.” And bizarre is too far from quirky for me. Not that the movie…
Dark and gritty, Nightcrawler takes viewers on a ride with Jake Gyllenhaal at the wheel. Buckle up: it’s a wild one. I was tired the night I saw this film, having not slept well the previous night. And alas, the theater we planned to visit changed its schedule, so we had to change plans from…
If you’ve read many of my movie reviews and impressions over the past, you know that this is the time of year my visits to the theater increase as those Oscar-worthy movies start gracing the screens. I seek lists on the web for what movies might make the cut come nomination time. Birdman was on…
“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…
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…
My first officiall 2013 film…. Side Effects. This movie twists and turns at such a rate that careful attention to all the details is a must, lest you miss the “how” or the “when” by the “who” of the “what.” What I thought going in based on the trailer was debunked. What I thought later…