The straightforward documentary Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show isn’t great because of its execution (the structure is too formulaic and some of the main shows discussed just aren’t that good) but it’s really great because of its subjects. Showrunners (meaning the Executive Producers in charge of “running” a TV show; usually the […]
A cast of some of TV’s most wonderful people populates About Alex, the debut feature from Parenthood writer Jesse Zwick. A dramedy about college friends reunited by tragic, awkward circumstances, this ensemble dramedy dives into everything- listlessness, love (requited, unrequited, unspoken, overwrought), depression, anxiety, jealousy, pretension, ambition- only rarely losing its honesty and light touch. […]
The Imitation Game is well acted, well directed and interesting. It tells the fascinating story of Alan Turing, brilliant code breaker autistic, as he cracks the Nazis unbreakable code and ends (SPOILER ALERT) with his suicide. It’s also kind of boring. When I watched J.Edgar a few years and noticed how by the numbers and […]
You already know the biggest problem with the newest installment of the Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1. It’s right there in that ridiculously long title. They took the last movie of the Hunger Games saga, and split it in half. This means that the finished film is half the final story, half […]
On September 21, 2007, the film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford opened in limited release in 5 theatres. My research on its release outside of theatres shows that it screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). I am certain it may have been screened for critics at other film […]
I had a disappointing movie weekend. On the surface, Big Hero 6 is the perfect movie for me. It’s a cartoon! It’s action packed! It features adorable, beautiful animation! And it’s genial enough. Funny enough. Engrossing enough. But at the end I was left with the distinct impression that I’d just sat through a decent […]
There are moments of Interstellar that are outstanding. It is visually stunning. It has a breathtaking vision of space, grounded by actual astrophysics (theoretically, sort of), which gets writ large across a gritty film landscape that manages to evoke classic science fiction movies while also featuring stunning graphics. And the simplified plot – man goes […]
JC Chandor may be a new name to a lot of people, but he is single handedly pushing and re-inventing acting led dramatic films. Within the last three years Chandor has explored the recent financial crash, one man’s struggle with the tempestuous sea and himself, and the heating oil business of 1981, one of the […]