Million Dollar Arm Written by Tom McCarthy Directed by Craig Gillespie USA, 2014 There’s a scene roughly halfway through Million Dollar Arm that speaks to the film’s inherently generic nature. In it, our ostensible hero, workaholic agent/pitchman Don Draper—er, J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) is brought in to talk with USC baseball coach Tom House (Bill …
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone Written by Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis Daley Directed by Don Scardino USA, 2013 A high concept comedy of the kind Will Ferrell has most been associated with in the last decade, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone assembles an appealing cast for its familiar story and character beats, here applied to …
Stand Up Guys Directed by Fisher Stevens Written by Noah Haidle USA, 2013 Embarrassment sets in after roughly 15 minutes of Stand Up Guys, not so much for its stars, Al Pacino and Christopher Walken, going through the motions of hacky jokes about how good the old days were. Instead, the kind of awkward feeling …
Now that we are nearing the big awards of the season, it is time to revisit the nominations and predictions for the 2013 BAFTAs. Part 2 will cover the following categories: (see part one here) Best Film Best British Film Leading Actor Leading Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Director The EE BAFTA …
Argo Directed by Ben Affleck Written by Chris Terrio USA, 2012 Improbably, Ben Affleck has turned his career around in the last few years from the pit where such cinematic embarrassments as Gigli and Daredevil forever reside. He’s essentially transformed himself from a tabloid cover-star into a poised actor-director who subscribes to the “Hollywood doesn’t …
Argo Directed by Ben Affleck Written by Chris Terrio USA, 2012 Ben Affleck’s latest directorial effort Argo is a tightly woven anecdote to history that utilizes a stranger than fiction preposterousness to strong crowd pleasing effect. The declassified true story reveals the unorthodox ingenuity involved in the unlikely coordination between Hollywood and the CIA as …
With the Academy Awards for the 2011 film year in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to take a look at one of the event’s most consistently fascinating categories: Best Supporting Actor. The most interesting story in the category this year isn’t who got nominated, it’s who didn’t. More specifically, Albert Brooks was completely robbed of …