Stellan Skarsgård

Cinderella is a refreshing callback to the unabashed costume epics of the past, when story and aesthetic held equal sway over ambitious filmmakers. Director Kenneth Branagh and his production team luxuriate in breathtaking sets, opulent costumes, and impeccable special effects while still keeping the old-fashioned story of courage and kindness at center stage. Yes, it would have been nice to see a little more cellulite and gumption from our heroine, but it’s hard to complain about a movie that so thoroughly delivers on spectacle and heart. Lush, extravagant, and painfully earnest, Disney’s Cinderella is a worthy adaptation of its classic predecessor. In fact, it’s quite wonderful.

You can’t win ‘em all. Sometimes the challenge with a film festival, as opposed to say a music festival, is that not everything you see will be good. Sometimes you may decide it just wasn’t for you, and sometimes you wonder why they even decided to choose that film in the first place. The Young …

“This remarkably affecting film is a powerful work that delves deeply into often unspoken and unconventional recesses of faith and love. Its themes are profound, its performances staggering throughout, and its visual palette and filmic technique are replete with saturated hues, vigorous camera work, and an unabashed intimacy.”

In the opening shot of the Norwegian crime thriller ‘In Order of Disappearance,’ a plow thunders down a Scandinavian country road, clearing the path with massive snow blowers. It might be tempting to say that the film’s hero, Nils Dickman (Stellan Skarsgard) is like the plow, pushing anything and everything out of his way in his desire for revenge. But in Norway, they do things a bit differently, and this film is all the better for it.

Nymphomaniac Written and directed by Lars von Trier Denmark, Belgium, France, and Germany, 2014 Lars von Trier will never change, nor should he.  Being a showman at heart, his career and image have been referred to as both serious and preposterous, and his latest work, Nymphomaniac, will not settle the debate, as it embodies the …

Oplev’s vesion hesitates not a second in taking the same characters and the same plot and rewiring them, switching the focus from the investigation to central relationship. Fincher’s film is an adaptation that both on page and on-screen is a loyal and loving tribute to the book, a rarity with such efforts. The term remake, perversely, has never been more appropriate.

This article is dedicated to Andrew Copp: filmmaker, film writer, artist and close friend who passed away on January 19, 2013. You are loved and missed, brother. **** Looking at the Best Actor Academy Award nominations for the film year 2012, the one miss that clearly cries out for more attention is Liam Neeson’s powerful …

The Avengers Written and directed by Joss Whedon USA, 2011 Following four years of films establishing the majority of its protagonists, Marvel Studios’ superhero ensemble film finally arrives. The Avengers teams up Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk, all established cinematic leads, as well as some agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., fronted by Samuel L. …

Producer Scott Rudin and director David Fincher are taking steps in finalizing the principal cast for the Hollywood remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The recent acquisition of gems Robin Wright (formerly Penn) as Erika Berger, and Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard as Martin Vanger to the team, has given rise to hope for …