![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Great American Movies based on Great American Novels reveal new insights at increasingly greater remove. Dating from 1955 and set in 1917, East of Eden is greatly insightful about the changes in America in the near half century between when it was set and made, and the half century plus between…
WikChip Video
James Dean, James Dean, James Dean!
|
||||||
![]() Deeply, floridly Italian, Malèna is a sumptuous WWII find, a Sicilian movie extraordinaire and a devastating depiction of Italian machismo reacting to the hottest signorina since Sophia Loren. Monica Belluci plays the title character, a gorgeous war bride living in a small Sicilian town, bro…
WikChip Image
where Malèna went, the town followed
|
||||||
![]() Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening use their considerable feminine wiles to control a man-in-the-middle. Talk about a double shot of mature sexiness, even if John Cusack proves barely worthy of their attentions. Of course Huston’s mobbed-up mom takes an immediate dislike to Bening’s sexed-up gi…
WikChip Image
Bening's sexy smooth grifter, on the ...
|
||||||
![]() Nobody’s Fool was a late career classic for everybody’s favorite moviestar. Paul Newman’s townie hand revels in being his own man, consequences be damned. He’s the town fool, even if he’s nobody’s fool — but his own. Moviestar performances from not only King Cool but also Bruce Willis, Me…
WikChip Video
Paul Newman: Mr. Sensitive
|
||||||
![]() Paul Newman wanted to be bad and got his wish with Hud. He plays a charismatic asshole, a user and abuser whose evil becomes increasingly evident as the movie rolls along. Three Oscars came in its wake, though King Cool himself had to be satisfied with just a nomination. Think Hud would’ve s…
WikChip Image
His unwanted attention brought her an...
|
||||||
![]() A small movie – though not a short one – of deeply personal relationships, You Can Count on Me launched two Hollywood careers and elevated a third. Kenneth Lonergan’s debut marked him as an auteur of surpassing talent, while Mark Ruffalo’s first starring role marked him as an everyman actor of…
WikChip Image
Boy do these three need each other.
|
||||||
![]() Charismatic, disorienting and brooding, Animal Kingdom presents the truthy tale of an infamous crime family, including their murder of two Melbourne cops. The brooding gets a bit much by the third reel, weighing down what would otherwise be a great true-crime movie. The charisma comes from …
WikChip Video
Infamous crime family, charismatic movie
|
||||||
![]() Winter’s tale propels a terrific family movie. Never mind that Winter – the dolphin whose rehab from disabling injury the movie lovingly portrays – is the movie’s only real character. The fictional human characters surrounding her are easy to root for, and laugh with. They include a father…
WikChip Image
Great tale about a dolphin's amazing ...
|
||||||
![]() Anyone who’s dealt with an elderly parent will be charmed by Robot & Frank, a gentle and deft SciFi comedy. Perhaps the best Alzheimer’s movie yet, though the A Word is never mentioned, it carries an emotional kick that leavens it in the end, elevating it to more than just a lark. The gre…
WikChip Image
Teaching a robot to pick a lock
|
||||||
![]() The good news about Rust and Bone is that it’s not about an orca trainer’s accident. It’s about her recovery. In any case, hers is only half the story, the rest being about an oafish stud with a small child in tow. What happens to father and son is tougher to take than what happens to her – …
WikChip Image
Communing Mammals: Human and Orca
|