Every scene was an art shot, and in case you hadn’t noticed, the movie ended with a tableau of Bingham’s Jolly Flatboatmen. The story, however, wasn’t quite Lonesome Dove, despite Tommy Lee Jones and the incident-beset cross-country trek (who knew Nebraska was west of Iowa?). Why anyone would’ve done anything they did, or how they […]
Once one accepted that this was a stage play, not a docudrama, the philosophical back-and-forth between German General Chotlitz and Swedish Consul Nordling could be appreciated as an intellectual exploration of human motives, rather than a somewhat incredible portrayal of how Paris was saved from Nazi destruction. There was no reason Chotlitz would have allowed […]
Wonderful performances by Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, embodying, respectively, physical deterioration and maturation. Inasmuch as we sort of knew Stephen Hawking’s story it was, in a way, more interesting to follow the path of Jane Wilde, who started cute as a button then had to deal with a crippled husband, three children and her […]
Considering this film took place at night, in stressful situations, featuring many working stiffs, in a very noir setting, it was remarkable that no one smoked. Maybe, then, it was no coincidence that at the very end of the credits, where they usually disclaim hurting any animals during filming, there was a line that no […]
Let’s hope Jon Stewart keeps his day job. I was never engaged and could have walked out at any point; I did so after about 70 minutes. Gael Garcia Bernal was an odd choice to play the lead; it felt like he was a tourist, floating through. When I think of how gripping Argo was […]
Very minor Woody Allen, to say the least. Absurd ending united Colin Firth and Emma Stone characters, although there was no reason to think they were meant for each other, or would last more than a few weeks in marriage. Colin Firth was either miscast or misdirected; in any case he was unconvincing and not […]
Wonderful acting by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig conveys the closeness of twins. Everyday nature of the story was refreshing, but it also meant plot ran out of steam well before the ending. Still, a fine effort.
The movie delivered on the book’s strengths – original plot, interesting characters – as well as its weakness – a frustratingly unsatisfying ending. It’s hard to know how someone who hadn’t read the book would have been affected by the plot twists and turns; for us, we watched and mentally checked off how Ben Affleck, […]
A thoroughly unpleasant movie experience. After our friend Jeremy Shamos gets knocked out, we are left with five highly neurotic characters who have zero appeal among them. Director Inarritu heightens the unpleasantness with a distracting continuous-tracking camera shot. What’s funny is how reviewers complained that the theater-critic character was unrealistic, when the entire movie was […]
Atmosphere, characters and great acting – what more could you want? A plot that makes sense? Nah, just keep us guessing and move it along, a la Lehane’s earlier Shutter Island. (I mean, why would a punk keep wearing a broken watch?) Tom Hardy’s near-autistic bartender was astonishing: you could read the blankness behind his […]
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