I was not a fan of the Academy Award-winning Precious, because it took Murphy’s Law to beyond what seemed possible: Precious’ suffering was never-ending, always worsening, and virtually meaningless. Director Lee Daniels never flinched from showing us the worst of the worst of the everyday physical and emotional violence suffered by the obese, abused, HIV+…
Argo The thing about making movies based on true stories is that it’s hard to keep them suspenseful. This is especially so when the story is so famous, and everything but the smaller details are rather well known. Ben Affleck’s fantastic new film Argo is based on such an event: The Iran hostage crisis from…
(CNN) — It was a fond memory that spurred filmmaker Jonathan Lisecki to what may become one of his most successful projects to date. His film “Gayby” tells the tale of a woman and her gay best friend who decide to make a child, the old-fashioned way. “I had the idea because there was a…
also playing The buzz on The Iron Lady has been that Meryl Streep is amazing as Margaret Thatcher and the movie isn’t very good. Since I don’t read reviews before I write mine, I’m not sure why the buzz isn’t that Streep is amazing and the movie is excellent. Because I loved it. Told in…
Usually, I do a little bit of research about a movie before I see it. At least, I’ll scan the entry on IMDb.com, just so that I have an idea about what I’m about to see – some plot threads, the resumé of the actors or director, and the like. Though I won’t read anyone…
dvd of the week One of the great surprises of last summer, the mixed martial arts drama Warrior has a somewhat hard-to-believe plot, but that is subsumed by the intensity and authenticity of the performances and the scenes in the cage. Inception’s Tom Hardy seems to be channeling some cross between Rocky-era Sylvester Stallone and…
dvd of the week Woody Allen has been hit or miss over the last decade or so, but his latest film, Midnight in Paris, is one of the good ones; a delightful, fantastical comedy about what happens when one of your greatest dreams comes true. As in most of Allen’s comedies, if Allen isn’t the…
dvr this This absurdly funny Blake Edwards musical comedy about a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman is one of Julie Andrews’ greatest roles. In order to get a job singing at a nightclub in Paris, she passes herself off as a gay female impersonator. Wackiness ensues. James Garner is…
Shame, Steve McQueen’s dystopian tale of compulsion and sibling conflict, is the most sexually explicit movie I’ve seen since John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus but it is not nearly as interesting, inventive or sexy as Mitchell’s movie. In fact, Shame is about as sexy as taking a cold shower, clothed, while your grandmother sits on the…
dvd of the week If your jaw dropped at how realistic, how life-like and creepy Gollum was when you first saw him in The Fellowship of the Ring ten years ago, it will fall open again and your mouth will dry out when you see Caesar, the super smart chimpanzee at the center of Rise…
