Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS is an extraordinary visual wonder from beginning to end, exhilarating the senses with eye-dropping kaleidoscopic imagery and a sweet sensitivity between Alice and the Hatter that touches the heart and the tear ducts. The magnificence and magic of ALICE comes not only from a cleverly written script by Linda Woolverton, but from the meticulous attention to detail by director James Bobin on both the technical and creative levels, melding the...
Let's just set the tone right now and say, quirky Greta Gerwig goodness. Written and directed by Rebecca Miller, MAGGIE'S PLAN is fun and light, unfolding with inherent humor fueled by Gerwig's Maggie and her relationships with Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore. Nothing is ever forced. Rebecca Miller has not only written a strong script with well-developed characters, but has constructed a visual grammar that matches the story and the characters beat for beat, delivering an...
British director Ben Wheatley first caught the attention of many when he threw his hat into the feature film ring with "Kill List". Already known for his episodic television work across the pond, "Kill List" made one sit up and take notice of Wheatley's directorial storytelling skill. Now, with HIGH-RISE, Wheatley firmly solidifies himself as a visionary thanks to his stylized interpretation of Amy Jump's adaptation of the 1975 J.G. Ballard sci-fi novel of the same name...
I always knew "green rooms" could be dangerous places - especially back in the 70's and 80's at the height of metal and then with 90's punk and free-flowing drugs and alcohol, but Jeremy Saulnier takes the idea of a green room to a whole new deliciously twisted level with GREEN ROOM. As we know from "Blue Ruin", Saulnier is adept at carefully placed and judiciously utilized tongue-in-cheek double entendres, and GREEN ROOM is no different; most notably with the band's name - "T...
To the horror of my colleagues in the press and evoking a chorus of gasps and boos from them at the recent press junket for CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (although Paul Rudd cheered and Kevin Feige lit up like a Christmas tree), I dared to say that which apparently should not be said: CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is BETTER than "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." I said it then, I've said it since and I say it again now. While "The Force Awakens" is a global phenomena filled with...
You've seen the pictures. I've seen the pictures. The whole world has seen the pictures. And "the pictures" remain to this day the most requested images in the National Archives. What pictures, you may ask? Those taken on December 21, 1970, by White House photographer Ollie Atkins; when Elvis Presley met President Richard Nixon. Now, thanks to director Liza Johnson and screenwriters Hanala Sagal, Joey Sagal and Cary Elwes, culling from personal notes, recollections and...
Lots of good stuff opening in theatres this week, as well as on a concurrent digital/VOD platform, including the much anticipated Disney's THE JUNGLE BOOK. Normally, I would devote full coverage to this Disney film, but given the review embargos were lifted some time ago and reviews have been flooding the marketplace leading up to the April 15th release, we're going to look at some of the unsung winners of the week in this column today. But, suffice to say, when it comes to TH...
Still in the midst of spring break and with baseball season fast upon us, it's a moviegoing grand slam this week with everything from a biopic on an American institution, Hank Williams, to a foul-mouthed, hard talking, stuck-in-the-past Olympic bronze medalist comedy to the tenderness of a young woman with Asperger's looking for love to a look at one aspect of the greatest American pastimes, baseball. First up to the plate. . . FASTBALL Justin Verlander. Sandy Koufax. Bob...
Leave it to Jean-Marc Vallee to deliver yet another emotionally intense and introspective character driven film. Leave it to Jake Gyllenhaal to once again put his chameleonic skill set to use to deliver yet another indelible and unforgettable performance. A film that goes against the emotional grain, toying with our own unspoken fears about "what if" and "waiting for the other shoe to drop", DEMOLITION manipulates, shocks and examines in a tapestry of unpredictability that is...
Anyone who seen writer/director Deon Taylor's freshman film, "Supremacy", has been awed by the power and strength of the heavy dramatic themes rising from the a racially motivated true story. Many, including myself, have anxiously awaited his follow-up film curious to see what Taylor would deliver next. That wait is now over. And I am here to tell you, MEET THE BLACKS is nothing at all like "Supremacy". Going from the darkest depths of the souls of men, Taylor reaches the...
Clive Owen is always a welcome presence in any film, but particularly in one as smartly subtle and engaging as Bob Nelson's THE CONFIRMATION, and in which Owen shares the screen with (and is often upstaged by) one of the greatest young talents of the next generation, Jaeden Lieberher. THE CONFIRMATION is quietly moving, laced with the humor and pain inherent to life. A beautiful character study in the dynamics of a father and son, the chemistry between Owen and Lieberher is...
Pixar Animation Studios has done it again. Not only have they delivered what should prove to be the indisputable Best Animated Feature Academy Award winner come February 28, 2016, but a hot contender as an overall Best Picture nominee with INSIDE OUT. Breaking new ground with storytelling and technology, while retaining the hallmarks of what makes Pixar great, director Pete Docter and the Pixar team boldly go where no one has gone before - into the mind of an 11-year old...
While my love and admiration for Joss Whedon and the World of Whedon (not to mention the "Avengers" and that irascible Tony Stark aka Robert Downey, Jr.) knows no bounds, when it comes to AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, I have to admit that from a story standpoint and the execution thereof, the Russo Brothers still reign as the current kings in the Marvel world thanks to their inspired direction of "Captain America: Winter Soldier". I know, I know. Shocker to hear from this lover of...
Christina Noble is a name many may not know but after seeing NOBLE, thanks to not only the subject of the film, but the well crafted storytelling of writer/director Stephen Bradley and indelible life-affirming performances by Dierdre O'Kane, Sarah Greene and Gloria Cramer Curtis as Christina Noble at various points in time, you will not only want to know the name, but the woman. An amazing woman. An inspiring story. A powerful and moving film. Christina Noble was born in the...
As you stroll through Downtown Culver City you might notice a new face on the block - ArcLight Cinemas. While maybe not a completely new face, it's definitely a 21st century upgrade. As related by Gretchen McCourt, Executive Vice President & Chief Content Officer of ArcLight Cinemas, "We've been operating here in Culver City as Pacific Theatres for a number of years and with the transformation that Culver City has made with the restaurants, with the nightlife, with the...
Let's just get it out there now so there's no mistaking. Nicholas Sparks is Nicholas Sparks is Nicholas Sparks. You know what you're going to get (for the most part) when you pick up a Sparks novel or sit down to watch a Sparks adaptation on the big screen. You know there will be beautiful scenery with lots of sun, lots of greenery, lots of rain (literally and metaphorically), lots of tears and lots of very fine looking people. You also know that in probably 75% of the cases,...
Seems that not just Spring has sprung, but so has the movie box office which is jam-packed with a multiplicity of new releases in limited and wide release this month. This week I turn your attention to two films: TRUE STORY - based on the true story of a killer and a journalist and, UNFRIENDED - conceived by the innovative and cutting edge Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, sheds a frightening light on the internet, Skyping, instant messaging with some horrifying results....
I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or Al Pacino us just getting better, but between his recent tour de force in "The Humbling" and now DANNY COLLINS, I have fallen in love with him as an actor. The nuance that he brings is electrifying and emotionally enticing and fulfilling and never moreso than as DANNY COLLINS. Written and directed by Dan Fogelman, DANNY COLLINS is, as the screen credits playfully note, "Kind of based on a true story a little bit." That true...
A thoughtful film that places the past and its lingering effects on the present as told through feuding Appalachian families who can't or don't want to move forward in a 1970's backwoods North Carolina, THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT is a microcosmic microscopic examination of introspection. Adapted from Ron Rash's 2006 novel by writer Shane Danielson and directed by David Burris, THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT is a slow, methodical, atmospheric burn that celebrates the gravitas of performa...
Fans of the stage musical, and those who have heard of but never seen the wonder that is Stephen Sondheim, are in for a special holiday treat come Christmas Day as all tied up with a big red bow, er, cape, is Sondheim's acclaimed and long-running INTO THE WOODS which finally arrives on the big screen in this stunning adaptation written by stage scribe James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim and directed by Rob Marshall. What big eyes you'll have as you watch the magic of this fairyt...
Delving into somewhat rare territory with bringing a true life story and real life individuals to the big screen (the last time being "Ed Wood"), one of whom is very much alive and very much a part of the making of BIG EYES, Tim Burton returns to the bemused wonder and charm that he demonstrated with "Edward Scissorhands". While in many respects a departure from what we have grown accustomed to in recent years from Tim Burton, in others, BIG EYES feels like the smooth fit of...
I was one of the lucky few press who, several months ago, was treated to some early clips of NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB. My appetite for more was quickly whetted on seeing just brief glimpses of Sir Ben Kingsley and Rami Malek in all their royal glory, Ben Stiller as history's best friend Larry Daley, and that pee-happy capuchin Dexter (aka Crystal the Monkey). Now having seen the film in its entirety, I can honestly say that my enthusiasm and delight for NIGHT...
The finger of God seems to have descended on Hollywood the past few years with a resurgence in the spectacle of the Old Testament and teaching of the New, on both the big and small screens. Perhaps a commentary on the world itself, perhaps as tool to give hope in desperate times, perhaps divine intervention, but we are none the worse for wear for the experiences given us by Roma Downey's "The Bible" and 'Son of God" or Darren Aronofsky's "Noah" and now, in perhaps the grandest...
As you are reading this very column, be it online or in print, one of the people responsible for this luxury is the very man celebrated in THE IMITATION GAME - Alan Turing. Although director Morten Tyldum focuses on Turing's life in the context of WWII and the genius of his mathematical and codebreaking skills, it is thanks to Turing's work for the Allies during this time at Bletchley Park, the Government Code and Cypher School, that an early version of the device we now know...
As has become crystal clear over the past several years, DreamWorks Animation more than gives Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar a run for their money when it comes to animated features. With it's own distinctive styling of rich, vibrant colors like those seen in "The Croods" or "Turbo", character and background design are drawn with a slightly skewed shaping and outlining that have a touchstone quality to Saturday morning cartoons, while action and adventure is...
