Archive | January 2012
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The Iron Lady
Nominated for Best Actress and Best Make-up at the 84th Annual Academy Awards… It’s stupefyingly awful. And also an insultingly simple-minded document of a fascinating decade of change from the previous century. Bobby Sands and the IRA hunger strikers, for instance, are given one brief line yelled from a crowd. No attempt is made to […]
The SAGging of the DGA?
You’ll hear a lot of talk today about “The Help” being poised now to upset “The Artist” for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards. Don’t fall for it. It’s just the entertainment news broadcasts trying to create some drama. SAG is not the prime indicator for the Best Pic Oscar. That happened the night […]
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 84th Annual Academy Awards… It’s pretty darn good and everything a summer blockbuster should be. So what if the James Franco/Freida Pinto coupling offers no heat whatsoever and that there’s no mistaking the apes for anything but computer-generated? We knew all of the other films(the original 5 from […]
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 84th Annual Academy Awards… Marshall Curry’s 2005 “Street Fight” is an absolutely riveting political documentary feature that lost the Oscar to the wildly over-praised “March of the Penguins”(cute arctic birds plus Morgan Freeman narration—you do the math). “Street Fight” focused on the 2002 mayoral campaign where Cory Booker […]
Woody and his Buzz
Well, look at that. Oscar righted the DGA’s wrongs and nominated “The Tree of Life” for Best Picture AND Best Director, and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and helmer David Fincher for neither. Now, that’s more like it. I feel much better now. But they didn’t stop there. “Midnight in Paris” garnered nods for […]
Warrior
Every cliche in the book. It’s difficult not to like, and some may find impossible not to love—but the script could’ve been written by Stallone. How could you ever knock a “Rocky” sequel and say you enjoy this? Oh, it’s well acted. It has a terrific trio of actors(Joel Edgarton as older brother Brendan Conlon, […]
Follies on Broadway
If you are reading this today, chances are you’ve missed it. When this splendid revival opened in New York in September it carried with it the distinction of being a 40-year-old show that had never turned a profit on the Great White Way in its handful of incarnations. I believe that streak has been broken […]
50/50
Hooray! A cancer comedy! I’ve been waiting! On the other hand…didn’t I go through this with Adam Sandler in his 2009 release, “Funny People”? Or was that not really cancer, I forget. No matter—you get the idea. It’s a very small niche. Apparently based on the real life story of Will Reiser, cousin of comedian/actor […]
The Ides of March & Moneyball
Clooney and Pitt are not content with being the most handsome guys in a room…and that’s mostly a good thing. With Brad producing two of the finest films of the year and George continuing to stake out a claim as a director, these not-so-young anymore hunks(Pitt’s 48 and George is almost 51), ensure longevity with […]
The Art(ist) of the Golden Globes
It’s coming into focus now, Oscar night is. Still over a month away, but the 69th Golden Globes sharpen the odds. Will Best Picture go to “The Descendants” or “The Artist”? My money says the silent film, but the buzz has been known to ebb and flow leading up to the big night, so I […]
Reviewed by Mark Leonard 