With a mix of “Alien,” “Toy Story” and a bit of originality, Walt Disney Studios has created a wonderfully fun and nostalgic effort sure to put a smile on the faces of young and old, alike. And while a bit long in the tooth for an animated film (108 minutes), Wreck-It Ralph nevertheless is one…
Rust and Bone, directed and co-written by Jacques Audiard (writer/director of Oscar nominated, “A Prophet”) depicts the slowly developing love story of Stephanie (Marion Cotillard, “The Dark Knight Rises”) and Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts, “Bullhead”) who, despite being an unlikely pairing, form a bond through tragedy and life’s misfortunes. When Stephanie is first introduced she appears…
To be blunt and to the point, the best surfing film is “The Endless Summer,” maybe followed by “Big Wednesday.” The heart-tugging “Soul Surfer” may also be your cup of tea, as well. Unfortunately, Chasing Mavericks is not among the genre’s Top 10 (if there is even enough to even MAKE a Top 10). In…
Cloud Atlas is a challenge. It does not arrive as 99% of its film peers do, with a beginning, middle, and an end. Six different stories spanning over 500 years of time are woven together and make your mind work overtime not only keeping them apart, which is its job while you watch the film,…
Longing loneliness and rich romanticism collide in Tabu, each more a feeling than an idea, each dominating a portion of Miguel Gomes’ emotionally oppositional drama. Split nearly down the middle, the movie opens with a prologue and then devotes half of the following picture to part one (titled “Paradise Lost”) and the other half to…
At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Soviet Union basketball team beat the U.S. squad for the gold medal and more importantly, bragging rights. In what is assumed to be a U.S. dominated sport in which an American team had only failed to get the gold once before, they not only lost, but tragically, they lost…
Director Andrew Dominik’s third feature film after “Chopper” and “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” 2012’s Killing Them Softly is a brutal tale of mob politics based on George V. Higgins’ 1974 novel “Cogan’s Trade.” On top of being a gritty gangster picture, the film provides a thoughtful commentary on America’s…
