The Descendants Directed by Alexander Payne Written by Alexander Payne USA, 2012 The most obvious theme running through the films of Alexander Payne is the wide-eyed angst that all of Payne’s protagonists struggle through. At his best, Payne is a more humorous version of Thomas McCarthy, as he often analyzes small town America and its …
The Descendants Written by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, based on Kaui Hart Hemmings’s novel Directed by Alexander Payne USA, 2011 If it’s true that filmmakers spend their careers repeatedly remaking the same movie, few filmmakers seem to relish the prospect of repetition to the same degree as Alexander Payne. After cutting his …
The Ides of March Written by George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon Directed by George Clooney USA, 2011 Depite the rising tides of discontent among the politically disenfranchised in North America – and the growing number who can count themselves among those ranks – politically relevant entertainment is not exactly flourishing at the moment. …
George Clooney‘s newest directorial effort, Ides Of March, was just announced to open the Venice Film Festival. The film is loosely based on Beau Williams‘ play Farragut North on the 2004 Democratic primary and one of its candidates Howard Dean. Clooney looks to have another big year, directing and starring in this picture along with …
Strange Win – Albert Lamorisse’s exquisite The Red Balloon remains one of the most beloved family films of all time. Weirdly, the 1956 film won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar = despite being a 35-minute French movie, and despite having no dialogue. Lawsuit – In 1988, the Academy itself managed to anger Disney over the …
The American Directed by Anton Corbijn Action fans and George Clooney enthusiasts might well be ill-prepared for The American, which, despite its marketing as a slam-bang thriller, is actually closer in spirit to Euro arthouse fare, and features Clooney in full-on “emptied out” mode. (It’s best described as a brooding drama slightly peppered with violence.) …
The American Directed by Anton Corbijn Action fans and George Clooney enthusiasts might well be ill-prepared for The American, which, despite its marketing as a slam-bang thriller, is actually closer in spirit to Euro arthouse fare, and features Clooney in full-on “emptied out” mode. (It’s best described as a brooding drama slightly peppered with violence.) …
The American Directed by Anton Corbijn Action fans and George Clooney enthusiasts might well be ill-prepared for The American, which, despite its marketing as a slam-bang thriller, is actually closer in spirit to Euro arthouse fare, and features Clooney in full-on “emptied out” mode. (It’s best described as a brooding drama slightly peppered with violence.) …
In its glorious and barreling 87 minutes, Anderson and Baumbach, have taken the gist of Dahl’s book and carefully expanded it into everything you would expect it to be. Fantastic Mr. Fox Directed by Wes Anderson Wes Anderson joins Spike Jonze in adapting a much beloved children’s literature in the same year. First Jonze delivered …
The Men Who Stare at Goats Directed by Grant Heslov According to Jon Ronson’s book The Men Who Stare At Goats, the U.S. government has experimented with various extra-sensory ‘abilities,’ such as remote-viewing and mind control, since the 1950s. These highly classified sub-divisions of the Army were developed in the hopes of creating a different …