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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, generations will co...
by debbie lynn elias This week, I want to shed light on some indie gems that everyone should be on the lookout for, be it in the smaller art house-type theatres or on VOD. Each bodes strong female voices and performances, the latter two - MAN FROM RENO and APARTMENT TROUBLES - find directors pushing the envelope and developing their own skill sets and storytelling techniques, while, EFFIE GRAY, takes us back in time to 19th century London and the story of a scandalous female historical figure....
This week, I want to shed light on some indie gems that everyone should be on the lookout for, be it in the smaller art house-type theatres or on VOD. Each bodes strong female voices and performances, the latter two - MAN FROM RENO and APARTMENT TROUBLES - find directors pushing the envelope and developing their own skill sets and storytelling techniques, while, EFFIE GRAY, takes us back in time to 19th century London and the story of a scandalous female historical figure. EFFIE GRAY Leave it...
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 story is a real...
Let's just start by saying, Colin is King! We have always known that Colin Firth is the perfect romantic leading man, the perfect "Single Man", a man among men who can tug at the heartstrings and make women swoon as easily as lead a country into battle, but who knew he was an action hero! One look at Firth in KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE and it's pretty clear who the next James Bond should be. Firth is fabulous as he blends the gentility, style, propriety, manners and elegance of the perfect Bri...
Time for rebirth and rejuvenation with another trip to Jaipur, India to visit with "The Dames"(Judi and Maggie, collectively, as they are referred to by screenwriter Ol Parker) and company, all of whom we find are still happily residing as their respective characters at the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. When we last saw our favorite group of British retirees, each had left their native England to head to what was advertised as a luxurious retirement hotel in Jaipur - the Best Exotic Marigold...
Ringing my bell with laughter is THE WEDDING RINGER. Directed by Jeremy Garelick and co-written by Garelick and Jay Lavender, THE WEDDING RINGER goes into what is, in many respects, virginal best man territory, putting Kevin Hart and Josh Gad together for one of the best bromances ever and some of the biggest laughs you'll see on screen. Calling on the likes of Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Ken Howard, Mimi Rogers, Olivia Thirlby, Jenifer Lewis and Cloris Leachman, comedy veterans rush the end zone and...
Hot off Oscar-weekend, this week brings a fresh crop of films to tickle your film fancy. David Cronenberg and screenwriter Bruce Wagner collaborate to bring us the delicious (albeit polarizing) "Maps to the Stars" with newly minted Oscar-winner Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson, Olivia Williams and Evan Bird in this tale of a dysfunctional, incestuous Hollywood family. As is expected in a Cronenberg film, and a Wagner script or novel, the envelope is pushed, metaphor...
I have never known the world without Paddington Bear. Born into the literary world around the same time as myself in 1958, Michael Bond's "A Bear Called Paddington" has been a mainstay of not only my life, but for generations of kids who came after me (including my nephews). Paddington Bear was just like me; he was a child. And despite all of Paddington's worldly education and manners taught him in "Darkest Peru" by his Aunt and Uncle, he had all the wide-eyed wonder, rose-colored glasses,...
STRANGE MUSIC is music to my heart! Think an animated "Moulin Rouge!" that embraces the George Lucas ideals of dark & light, finding beauty and love in the darkest places, experiencing incredible new worlds, and all set in another kind of galaxy far, far away, this one comprised of The Fairy Kingdom and The Dark Forest. Yes. George Lucas. The man behind the mythical worlds of The Fairy Kingdom and The Dark Forest (also the man behind The Empire and The Force) has a soft side, an animated side,...
It’s a wild weekend on the big and small screens this weekend with the Super Bowl on tv and some powerhouse films opening in the theatres. On the heels of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act come two films focused on racial divide. The one, BLACK OR WHITE, written and directed by Mike Binder and starring Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer with an Oscar-worthy turn by Anthony Mackie, approaches the issue from the perspective of child custody and two loving grandparents - one White and o...
Anyone who knows me or who has read any of my reviews or interviews over the past few decades knows of my admiration and affection for action films, stunt work, Jason Statham and director Simon West. Put all of those ingredients together, and toss in a screenplay by William Goldman, and I'm in. Needless to say, you can imagine my excitement for WILD CARD as it not only blends all of these elements in this slick, as-to-be-expected reflective and brooding crime drama, but minimizes the action...
STRANGE MUSIC is music to my heart! Think an animated "Moulin Rouge!" that embraces the George Lucas ideals of dark & light, finding beauty and love in the darkest places, experiencing incredible new worlds, and all set in another kind of galaxy far, far away, this one comprised of The Fairy Kingdom and The Dark Forest. Yes. George Lucas. The man behind the mythical worlds of The Fairy Kingdom and The Dark Forest (also the man behind The Empire and The Force) has a soft side, an animated side,...
Based on a true story, with a script by Eric J. Adams, director Deon Taylor explores the dividing lines of race, family and the hate that fuels those lines with an intensity that at times is almost overwhelming with explosive emotion with SUPREMACY. Garrett Tully, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, had just been released from the maximum security Pelican Bay State Prison not 15 hours earlier when he kills a state trooper. Now a fugitive and on the run, with the help of Doreen, a friend to the...
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 AT THE MUSEUM:...
Although in limited release, an indie gem that requires mention, and your attention, is LITTLE ACCIDENTS. Written and directed by Sara Colangelo, LITTLE ACCIDENTS is a very profound and thought-provoking character study, as well as study of the human condition, focused within the microcosm of reality in a West Virginia coal mining town. If LITTLE ACCIDENTS doesn't show the true chain of life and how everything intersects with everything else, how one ripple in a pond can change the entire flow...
The first three-day holiday weekend of 2015 brings a jam-packed slate of films filled with Oscar nominees, Golden Globe winners and new releases. Let’s take a look at three diverse films opening this weekend which covers the gamut of something for everyone. PADDINGTON I have never known the world without Paddington Bear. Born into the literary world around the same time as myself in 1958, Michael Bond’s “A Bear Called Paddington” has been a mainstay of not only my life, but for generat...
With BIG HERO 6, Walt Disney Animation Studios once again proves why they are heroes to generations and legions of fans the world over. Tapping into the recesses of the Marvel vaults, directors Don Hall and Chris Williams bring this somewhat obscure gem of heroes to life in what is destined to be the newest franchise in the Disney-Marvel universe.....not to mention my pick for Oscar gold. But setting BIG HERO 6 apart from the super heroes and fantasy we have come to know from Marvel is that the...
The game is afoot with THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1, but it's no longer being played as a game within the confines of an electronically controlled and domed "arena". With the release of Katniss Everdeen's arrow as her final move in the "Catching Fire" Quarter Quell, all bets are off. The games are no longer "games" with a single victor (or victors, as in the case of Katniss and Peeta). The game is now very real and must be played by every single citizen in Panem if the now obviously evil...
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 performances from the likes...
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 spectacle yet, Rid...
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 a kidskin glove....
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 fairytale mash-up unfold...
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 non-stop, high octane, high...
So what happens when you take a beloved 32 page book published in 1972 about a boy named Alexander who is obsessed with all things Down Under and bring it into modern day and expand those 32 pages into a feature film? You get a wonderful, wonderful, laugh out loud, fun-filled family film that just brightens the day. Alexander Cooper is having the worst day of his life. Gum in his hair, getting bullied and slammed into lockers at school, no breakfast, not getting to do a history assignment on...
