Another Year
Happily married husband and wife attend to the emotional problems of their various friends, colleagues, and family over the course of a year. Director Mike Leigh’s movies are a mixed bag. They’re big on characterization and small on plot. On the one hand you get a beautifully composed, character driven drama filled with nuanced personalities. […]
The Mechanic
Dependable action thriller about a talented hit man who agrees to teach an apprentice his profession. Jason Statham is Arthur Bishop, a killer so efficient that his deaths look accidental. Into his life walks Steve McKenna, a troubled young man who wants revenge for his father’s death. They become mentor and student and it’s this […]
Solitary Man
Talky drama about an aging New York businessman who finds his life falling apart, unable to control his salacious desire for young women. Well written script underscores this redemptive character study. Star Michael Douglas, perfectly chosen for the lead, gives one of his most memorable performances in years. Not many actors could bring such a […]
The Warriors
A powerful gang leader at a city wide peace summit is shot and the Warriors are wrongfully accused. Now they must make it back to their home turf in one piece. Story based on a 1965 novel by Sol Yurick is vivid and consistently engaging, a model of how to edit an action thriller. Highly stylized […]
The Messenger
Powerful account of two soldiers who are assigned to the Casualty Notification Office delivering the news to families of people in Iraq who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Captain Tony Stone is the old hand doing this and it’s up to him to train Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery to communicate the message properly, without getting […]
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Oliver Stone’s sequel is a needlessly complicated bore that is inferior to the original in every way possible. The convoluted plot concerns young proprietary trader, Jake Moore who happens to be dating Gordon Gekko’s estranged daughter. Jake is out for revenge after his mentor, Louis Zabel, commits suicide as a result of a hostile takeover […]
Youth in Revolt
Director Miguel Arteta’s adaptation of the novel by C.D. Payne is a smart-alecky escapade about love and teen angst. Nick Twisp is a 14 year old smitten with an attractive neighbor. His goal to lose his virginity is not the noblest of objectives, but it allows for many witty one-liners on the difficulties of dating […]
Animal Kingdom
Following the death of his mother, 17 year old “J” goes to live with his grandmother, the matriarch of an infamous crime family, and her three criminal sons. Australian drama is presented in layers gradually peeled away one by one as we uncover the truth about this diabolical clan. We discover in horror the evil […]
The Way Back
POW drama inspired by the “true story” of a band of prisoners who escaped a 1940 Soviet labor camp. What should have been a slam dunk in excitement becomes a slow, boring trudge across unforgiving terrain. Wilderness-survival stories are usually riveting because of the various obstacles the protagonists must endure, yet there isn’t a lot […]
Buried
An American truck driver wakes up in a confined space with no knowledge of how he got there. Armed with a lighter and a cell phone he starts to slowly piece together exactly what has transpired. Director Rodrigo Cortés has fashioned a fascinating movie out of a minimalist story that takes place entirely in a […]