Archive | November 2013
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Blackfish
Tilikum. Surely, you’ve heard of him, right? Probably, the most infamous orca that ever existed, this SeaWorld star has been blamed for the deaths of three people over a span of nineteen years—two of them “killer whale” trainers. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite has combined harrowing real-life footage with eye-opening interviews(from former oceanarium employees)to create a marvelously […]
Dallas Buyers Club
It’s been a bit of a tough go trying to find a way to review this one, because a couple of the performances are top-notch. But the storyline takes the safe route throughout, with a plot that mostly plays like tract. Matthew McConaughey looks like a skeleton playing AIDS-infected homophobe Ron Woodroof, which would be […]
No Hunger for “Catching Fire”
Thanksgiving has just about arrived in the U.S., and it’s traditionally a HUGE weekend for shopping…and movie-going. I’ll probably catch at least one in the theaters myself, but I’m not sure what it will be. Spike Lee’s remake of Chan-wook Park’s “Oldboy”? I’m very curious. Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” with Bruce Dern? If only it would open at […]
The Conjuring
Certainly better than Lili Taylor’s previous high-profile, haunted house offering(1999’s dreadful remake of “The Haunting”), but still with a plateful of issues all its own. “The Conjuring” isn’t awful, but it’s mostly jump scares and creepy, obvious music. Plus, it chooses to wrap with a smarmy historical reference that really stuck in my craw(I won’t […]
Theatre on Video: Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth on HBO
It honestly was my intention to utilize this category much more frequently when I first announced it over a year ago. Unfortunately, this is only the second time a filmed theatre piece is getting a review here on the blog, so far(so much to see, so little time). A coincidence that both are one-man shows? Yeah, kind […]
12 Years a Slave
It swings for the fences so hard, that only the keenest-eyed umpires(I am not considering myself in their company)appear to be noticing that it’s closer to a ground rule double than a pure blast to the upper deck. Honestly, when was the last time that a film’s buzz was so steeped in nobility that you had […]
Computer Chess
With its advance indie buzz at a pretty impressive level of strength earlier this year, I was pretty certain that “Computer Chess” was going to be a documentary right until I popped the disc in my player. It’s not, but what it is may just defy classification for most viewers, even though it’s already been […]
Flashback: on 1986’s Captain EO
Alright, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I was at Disney World in Orlando for a week. Nostalgia trip(I haven’t been there in over 25 years)for me, and first time for my wife and boys(oldest is 8, little one is 6 next week). So, that’s the reason for my mid-fall hiatus. Oh, how I […]
Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight on HBO
The smartest move director Stephen Frears makes, with this earnest HBO film, is letting Muhammad Ali be the star of it. Oh, the Parkinson’s afflicted, now septuagenarian, former 3-time heavyweight boxing king doesn’t actually perform in the finished product. But neither is there an actor enlisted to portray the great champion. However, this depiction of […]
“Nebraska” and the return of Mr. Dern
I’m ba-aack. More on what I’ve been doing for the last week or so, over the next few days. It was partially film/stage oriented, so I’m trying to figure a way to properly present it. In the meantime, I’ve been meaning to talk about my excitement over the comeback of 1970’s staple, Bruce Dern. The […]
Reviewed by Mark Leonard 