Something there is about the English and their gardens, how they tend them, take their time with them, care for them, cherish them, bring warmth and joy to them, even staying with them when the weather turns nasty. And so to is it with Mike Leigh’s latest ensemble piece “Another Year.â€
Here you go, a slam bam summer action movie, right in the middle of winter. Is there any better way to heat up the screen? Jason Statham is back tearing up the bad guys as an elite hit man in this excellent re-envisioning of the 1972 Charles Bronson/Jan-Michael Vincent film of the same name
This film crawled up and surprised me. I was expecting a light comedy with some dramatic moments, what I got was a serious film with some comedic moments thoughtfully exploring the universal topics of fidelity and friendship, and I liked it. It’s actually hard to describe this film in terms of genre, definitely a ‘bromance’, perhaps a comedy/drama, either way, to me that makes for a true viewers delight.
Explosive, vicious and exhilarating, all the things that men like in a film are jammed into the 92 minutes of The Mechanic. The no-stop assassin drama kept me on the edge of my seat while bombs exploded, bullets flew, death defying stunts performed, knife fights, well you know what Crank was like, but count on double here. If you want to up your testosterone levels, then this is your kick-ass thriller.
Javier Bardem gives a gutsy performance in the gritty drama Biutiful. I liked this film from the incisive beginning to the heartfelt ending. Acting, directing and especially the cinematography are the building blocks for this story of a man struggling to keep his children.
Stunningly brilliant performances make The Company Men a wake up call to our decaying work force. The film targets the heavy problems caused by downsizing, especially jobs at the top of the food chain. Although you may think that this subject matter couldn’t be entertaining, what makes it exciting is the way it gets handled on the screen. I enjoyed this film as much as Up In The Air, maybe even a little more.
Romance with sex is the best way to describe No Strings Attached. The fast paced openly sexual film takes liberties using artistic license and lets it all hang out. This comedy’s not for the prudent or immature and has no class whatsoever. If it embarrasses you, then your morals are still in tact. If not, you probably had a good time.
What starts out to be a romantic story turns into a nightmare in All Good Things a loosely based true story involving a disappearance that could not be solved. Very chilling the movie moves along at a quick step from a budding romance that was frowned upon to the final enactment of the possible murder outcome of this unsolved mystery.
Here’s a lesson in history that set the standard for equal pay for women. Made in Dagenham takes this subject and presents it in storybook fashion adding a lot of ‘Hollywood’ stuffing and pretty faces. I like the film, but subtitles would have had me liking it even better.
Well acted and directed Casino Jack provides a scary look into government politics and though the eyes of super lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It’s Kevin Spacey at his best with a brilliantly cringing performance that tells all about the government gangster who goes out of control. With Barry Pepper at Spacey’s side, this film comes up a winner.