Tokyo Sonata, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (no relation to the master), is a timely social drama about the disintegration of a family after the main breadwinner loses his job. This movie would probably hit home for the many people who have lost a job during the current economic turmoil and is an insightful commentary on Japanese society.
Category: "Movie Reviews"
Movie Review: Hoop Dreams (1994)
Hoop Dreams, directed by Steve James, is a documentary that chronicles the lives of two young African-American high school students as they dream and aspire to become professional basketball players. Some of you may already be telling yourself that a sports documentary about basketball is not your cup of tea but hang on a minute because you don’t need to love basketball to enjoy this incredible film.
Movie Review: Atonement (2007)
Atonement, directed by Joe Wright, is an adaptation from the Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel of the same name. The film was nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture. Beautifully shot and very ambitious in trying to adapt a complex novel onto the silver screen, the movie does a lot of things right but has some occasional misfiring that prevent it from being a truly great film.
Movie Review: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans (2009)
Bad Lieutenant: Port Call – New Orleans is Werner Herzog’s latest baby, a darkly funny crime thriller starring Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer and Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner. “Wait a second” you may ask, those actors have been in dozens and dozens of horrendous movies! Do not despair because Bad Lieutenant is breaking the mold and getting the best of Cage and company.
Movie Review: Kick-Ass (2010)
Dark humor and satire permeates the very fabric of Kick Ass and this where it diverges from every comic book movie that came before it. We are never really sure at any point in time whether things should be taken with a grain of salt or not. This is a movie about superheroes where no one has superpowers.
Movie Review: The Blind Side (2009)
The Blind Side, written and directed by John Lee Hancock, was adapted from the non-fiction book of the same name by Michael Lewis. The book is the true story of Michael Oher who eventually went on to become an All-American Left Tackle at the University of Mississippi and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL Draft. Let’s make it clear from the start: You would expect this rags-to-riches movie to be about Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), it is not.
Movie Review: LA Confidential (1997)
Adapted from the 1990 novel of the same name by James Elroy, LA Confidential (#62 IMDb Top 250, 99% RT) is a period crime thriller set in 1950′s Los Angeles where Hollywood’s deceptive gloss is met with a deeply corrupted and dark underworld where even the cops are up to no good. If you haven’t seen the movie, I would recommend you to stop reading this review, as it contains slight spoilers, and run to the video store to buy or rent this gem!
Movie Review: Greenberg (2010)
Much like his previous movies, Greenberg is another character study written and directed by Noah Baumbach. The film’s focus is on Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller), a 40 year old New Yorker who recently had a mental breakdown and is brought out west to California by his brother Phillip to care for his dog while the family takes a vacation to Vietnam. What should have been another fascinating look at real life characters quickly turns into a story that becomes very uninteresting because of a very poorly written central personality that you can’t help but dislike, if not hate.
Movie Review: Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Do you want to see truly GREAT acting? Glengarry Glen Ross is the movie you want to watch. Cast members themselves would come on set on their day off to watch their fellow actors perform. That’s how good it is. Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Alan Arking, and Alec Baldwin at their best, it just doesn’t get any better than this little gem. Directed by James Foley, the film is an adaptation by David Marmet of his Pullitzer prize winning play of the same title.
