I confess that I had huge expectations for this movie. Not because director Christopher Nolan is the darling of comic fans for his “Dark Knight” trilogy, but because it seemed to mark a return to hard science-fiction: the prime importance […]
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The Professionals (1966) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Our fifteenth choice for 2014 is the exciting action-adventure The Professionals (1966). It’s sort of a western, but set after the usual time frame of traditional westerns and then mostly in Mexico, and it’s sort of a war film, but with […]
Continue reading »The Professionals (1966)
by Barb Lentz. The five movies Bob provided me from which to choose were these: Camille (1936) Eye of the Needle (1981) Lassie Come Home (1943) The Professionals (1966) The Ruling Class (1972) I chose The Professionals because of […]
Continue reading »Gone Girl (2014) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Gone Girl is a complex character-driven mystery in which a woman disappears and her husband is eventually arrested for her murder. But in this riveting tale from David Fincher — with a screenplay written by the original author, Gillian Flynn –secrets […]
Continue reading »Nightcrawler (2014) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler is a kind of social vampire scenario. It deftly threads one sociopath’s blossoming into a social tapestry into which that character is particularly well suited. As much as the film is about Louis Bloom, it is also about […]
Continue reading »Before I Go to Sleep (2014) ☆ ☆
Thrillers are supposed to thrill. That is not the case with Rowan Joffe’s new movie Before I Go to Sleep, which is based on a book by S. J. Watson. The plot blends elements of Memento and 50 First Dates, attempting […]
Continue reading »The Judge (2014) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Actors are supposed to draw upon their own experiences while pretending to be someone else on stage or on screen. This reinforces a script’s sincerity and verisimilitude, if the performer can plumb the depths of his or her own past […]
Continue reading »The Two Faces of January (2014) ☆ ☆
This mystery, based upon Patricia Highsmith’s book of the same name, reminded me of the movie made from another of her books, The Talented Mr. Ripley. Indeed, the pedigree behind this new movie includes Max Minghella, son of director Anthony […]
Continue reading »Fury (2014) ☆ ☆ ☆
Movies set in confined spaces — submarines, rocket capsules, and in this case, tanks — must necessarily define that space and use it visually to enhance their stories. The greater detail they can provide, the more the audience can identify […]
Continue reading »Dracula Untold (2014) ☆ ☆
I thought the preview looked terrible so I was not looking forward to the newest interpretation of the Dracula legend. Thankfully, the film is better than its preview suggests. It still isn’t what I would judge as “good,” but it […]
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