Jay Kelly Starring: George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Grace Edwards Director: Noah Baumbach Running Time 132 min Rated R Grade C+ George Clooney’s description of his character Jay Kelly is a “likable jerk”. The two-time Oscar winner (one for supporting actor, the other for producing) insists he isn’t playing a version of […]
After the Wedding is a rare film that is solely for mature sensibilities, no special effects, guns or killing. Powerful performances by Oscar-winner Julianne Moore and four-time nominee Michelle Williams are its selling point. If you don’t mind a script full of “only in the movies” plot twists, it’s also an engaging drama. Filmmaker Bart Freundlich
Known for his inventive indie films, Richard Linklater (“Boyhood”) takes aim at the mainstream, with his adaptation of the best-selling book Where’d You Go, Bernadette. The Oscar-nominated director from Austin cast Cate Blanchett in the lead role, a choice that fans of the book had long predicted and hoped for. It’s a return to greatness for her
“Justice League” might be another clunky, dark, comic book adaptation from the DC Universe, but it’s seriousness is part of its appeal versus “Thor: Ragnarok”, which feels more like junk food. If Blanchett’s Hela was too much of a softy, Ciaran Hinds Steppenwolf (he looks even more ridiculous than the name) wields the power and
Director Ridley Scott is trying to refurbish the “Alien” series which he began back in 1979. Unhappy with sequels that followed (Alien 2 by James Cameron, Alien 3 by David Fincher, Alien 4 by Jean-Pierre Jeunet). Scott (“Gladiator,” “The Martian”) began the prequel journey in 2012 with “Prometheus,” intruding the saga to a new generation
Actor turned director Joel David Moore’s film on the topic of legal human euthanasia isn’t the first of 2016 to cover such grounds. I point to Me Before You this past summer and of course the Oscar winning Amour in 2012. Moore (Savages, Avatar) directs the script by newcomer Andrew Eisen in the vein of
In her latest effort to finally win that coveted Oscar, Annette Bening, four-time Academy Award nominee, gives both a familiar performance, but one of her most subdued. From the life and experience of writer/director Mike Mills, 20th Century Women explores eccentricities within family as he did with his Oscar winning film Beginners (2010). This script
The South American perspective of Jackie Kennedy is apparently similar to a horror movie seen through the eyes of director Pablo Larraín. In his first English language film, the 40-year-old surprisingly molds Jackie in the same structure of fellow Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others (2001). The vicious editing choices paired with the savage musical
Tom McCarthy seems like a pretty talented guy, high praise for his supporting acting roles, received an Oscar nomination for animated scripts like “Up”, and consulted on the record breaking first season of “Game of Thrones”.