Based on Bernhard Schlink’s 1995 Holocaust novel of the same name, The Reader balances brilliantly the dark, menacing undertones of war (and the ugly things one must do to survive) with the innocent purity of first love. This combination of opposites works incredibly well to produce a controversial film that challenges the very beliefs which…
I’m not entirely sure why there is a run on “based on a true story” World War II movies as of late, but the newest of the bunch is Defiance. This one doesn’t delve into an assassination plot to kill Hitler (see Valkyrie for that), nor does it tell the tale of an all black…
The Wrestler is a movie that hits close to home. No, I have never been a professional wrestler and neither has anyone in my family. I did however have a friend who was heavily involved in the promotional business of the WWF many years ago. Trust me when I say that 95% of retired wrestlers…
There was a time, in the not so distant past, when anything Tom Cruise starred in was a bonafide hit. His recent bizarre social etiquette seems to have changed that as 2007’s Lions for Lambs attests to. Deciding to follow that up with the obscure German war thriller Valkyrie surely isn’t the way to go…
To think a harrowing story about feral Indian brothers and their trials to reach manhood would be sneaking up to possibly steal a best picture Oscar. Such is the case with Slumdog Millionaire — a craftily told story (based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup) that, through some major grit and grime,…
The “Twinkie Defense” (i.e., junk food made me do it) has to rank right up on top of the absurdity chart alongside the “Chewbacca Argument”. The difference between the two: the Chewbacca defense was an extraordinary concept put forth from the minds of the genius creators of South Park. The Twinkie defense, well that was…
I realize I’m aging myself here, but I was a teenager in the late 1970’s and as such I wasn’t paying too close attention to what was happening on the political scene at the time. I was much too caught up with the illicit thrill of cutting classes, shopping, and disco dancing. So when David…
