HollywoodandFine.com I’ve never felt a particular affinity to the films of the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc: like some, can leave the rest. But their newest, “Two Days, One Night,” pulled me in almost instantly and held me to its gripping conclusion. It’s a small story – an individual’s fight …
HollywoodandFine.com I happened to see Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken” before I read the Laura Hillenbrand book about the life of the amazing Louis Zamperini. My guest for an early screening was someone who had read and loved the book – and was dying to see the film. I came away from …
HollywoodandFine.com The two most disappointing films of the season should have been two of the most gripping: “Unbroken” (also opening on Christmas) and Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper,” Eastwood’s second misfire of the year (after the deadly “Jersey Boys”). The film is based on the memoir by former SEAL sniper Chris …
HollywoodandFine.com Had he been born in a different time and place, painter J.M.W. Turner might have been a member of the Hudson River School, a group of artists who worked in the second half of the 19th century, after Turner’s 1851 death. Like those painters, Turner was a master of …
HollywoodandFine.com I was engaged for the first hour of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Inherent Vice” – and frustrated into raging impatience by the final 90 minutes. So – 40 percent? Not a passing grade. “Inherent Vice” squanders a strong start in an orgy of wheel-spinning. Perhaps Anderson is indulging himself with …
HollywoodandFine.com Based on the memoir by Cheryl Strayed, Jean-Marc Vallee’s “Wild” offers an exceptional visual version of what could have been largely an interior journey. Indeed, Strayed herself refers to her three-month hike on the Pacific Crest Trail as a journey to find herself. It doesn’t get much more interior …
HollywoodandFine.com Marriage changes everything, whether you’re the one getting married or the best friend watching your pal coupling up with someone else. What happens to a certain kind of codependent friendship when one member finds a significant other? “Life Partners,” the first film by Susanna Fogel, would like to answer …
HollywoodandFine.com At this point, it seems pretty pointless to review a new entry in “The Hunger Games” series. If you’re not already interested, you’re unlikely to plug in and buy a ticket to see this film, just as the story revs up for its conclusion. It would be a little …
HollywoodandFine.com The culture surrounding college sports has become so polluted with commercial concerns – from bowl games and TV revenue to paraphernalia, video-game money and beyond – that the recent events at Florida State (involving player lawlessness) only seem to underscore the issues. They also make it more apparent that …
HollywoodandFine.com I don’t want this to sound condescending, because I’m a big admirer of Jon Stewart’s work and admire his courage in taking on something as massive as directing a movie while holding down a full-time job. So when I say that this is not bad for a first film, …