HollywoodandFine.com Romantic dramas seem to be few and far between these days. So it’s both refreshing and encouraging to see one as good as Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “Beyond the Lights.” It’s an area she has mined in the past, in films like “Love & Basketball” and “The Secret Life of Bees.” …
HollywoodandFine.com Christopher Nolan’s philosophy of filmmaking apparently is this: Why make one movie when you can make three? Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. “Interstellar” works much more often than it doesn’t. While the script by Nolan and his brother Jonathan wants to traffic in ideals and ideas about gravity, …
HollywoodandFine.com TV news has long since surpassed the excesses that seemed far-fetched in Paddy Chayefsky’s “Network” almost 40 years ago. Indeed, what’s shocking about Dan Gilroy’s “Nightcrawler” is how not shocking it is – while still being a rousing and visionary piece of work. In depicting the world of local …
HollywoodandFine.com Everyone, at some point, wonders how they would react to a split-second emergency. Fight or flight? Leap into action or race for the exit? Or simply crumble? That’s the question at the center of the wickedly chilly “Force Majeure,” a movie about a momentary decision that may lead to …
HollywoodandFine.com What is a laggie? Judging from the substance of Lynn Shelton’s new film, “Laggies,” it’s someone who has fallen behind in life. Not that Shelton or screenwriter Andrea Seigel are ever that explicit about it. Instead, this blithe romantic comedy just jumps right in, introducing Megan (Keira Knightley) and …
HollywoodandFine.com This seems to be the season for movies in the 140-150 minute range, length apparently meant to convey importance. David Ayer’s “Fury” is one of the few that warrants its length (or most of it). Brutal, punishing and exciting – in that order – “Fury” gives you an approximation …
HollywoodandFine.com “The Judge” is, in its way, the kind of old-fashioned potboiler – a courtroom drama – that the studios made regularly when the studios actually thought there was an audience for films about adult concerns. It’s directed by David Dobkin, heretofore a director primarily of comedy (“Wedding Crashers,” “Fred …
HollywoodandFine.com Bill Murray has had the most piquant of film careers, launching himself from “Saturday Night Live” into goofy comedies that eventually gave way to something deeper and more satisfying, appearing in everything from “Zombieland” (as a version of himself) to the films of Wes Anderson to wildly varied recent …
HollywoodandFine.com “Whiplash,” a terrific film by Damien Chazelle, exemplifies all that is wrong with the way movies are released these days. This smart, razor-edged film has been out there, tantalizing critics and viewers, ever since it caused a sensation with its debut at Sundance in January. But it took until …
HollywoodandFine.com It’s the rare journalism movie that gets it right when it comes to depicting the day-to-day on a daily newspaper. And, given the terminal condition of American print, journalism movies themselves are going to become an endangered species – sort of like newspapers. So it’s nice to see a …
HollywoodandFine.com Based on a novel by Chad Kultgen, Jason Reitman’s “Men, Women & Children” is a multi-character film that wants to deliver a message about how our burgeoning electronic connectivity – through phones and computers – has actually distanced us from each other. That’s not a new message; indeed, Henry-Alex …
HollywoodandFine.com Based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, “The Two Faces of January” is a movie that sheds layers like an onion, gradually revealing the dark heart at its core. Indeed, writer-director Hossein Amini keeps the viewer guessing until nearly the end of the film as to which of these …
HollywoodandFine.com There is always an audience for actors in late middle-age who know how to kick serious ass. Charles Bronson was 53 when he made “Death Wish,” Liam Neeson was 54 when he did “Taken” and Clint Eastwood was 73 when he did “Gran Torino.” Action has always been one …
HollywoodandFine.com “Pride” is the kind of movie that is best seen without knowing its storyline going in. Because it delivers something quite different than you expect, based on the kind of movie it seems to be. Even if you do know the plot (which deals with the coal-miners strike that …