No matter what anyone tells you, AMERICAN HUSTLE is one of THE best movies of the year. And it was shot in Boston (standing in for New Jersey)-- so it was a kick to see the gilded Wang Theater lobby and environs decked out as a swank gambling hall for one of the film's climactic [...]
I thought my eyes would pop out of my head! The WOLF OF WALL STREET left me howling, jaw on the floor, more than once. This fantastically over the top, true story of 8o's-style greed from Martin Scorsese, plays like CALIGULA on Wall Street, laced with "coke, testosterone, and bodily fluids."Â Leonardo DiCaprio grabs and [...]
12 YEARS A SLAVE tops the list of Boston Society of Film Critics Awards with three awards including Best Picture of 2013, Best Director-- Steve McQueen, and Best Actor-- Chiwetel Ejiofor for his role as Solomon Northup in this true story of a free black man kidnapped and sold into slavery. Seventeen of the 21 [...]
I like THE HUNGER GAMES: series, and the second installment, CATCHING FIRE--despite a colleague's calling it "a long slog"--absolutely held me. Once again, the charismatic Jennifer Lawrence as the reluctant firebrand Katniss Everdeen continues to rebel against the capitol. Having out-witted the powers that be in the first Hunger Games--a TV spectacle in which children [...]
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR has certainly heated up the conversation about women, sex on film, and madmen directors. Since the NC-17 rated movie along with its leading ladies (a first!) won the Palme d'Or the highest honor at this year's Cannes Film Festival, arguments have erupted, accusations have been hurled, and tears have been [...]
THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN opens on a tight shot of a group of down-home, country bluegrass musicians performing "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." They may be "down home"--but not in the country you think. Though their English sounds flawless, they are actually Flemish musicians in Ghent 2006. And that American country classic they're singing? It's [...]
ALL IS LOST--Robert Redford's latest as a man alone and adrift at sea-- plays like an extended Viagra commercial. You know-- older, handsome outdoorsman testing his mettle against the elements; there's a broken mast involved. I know, I know. It's Redford--and there's already Oscar buzz about this performance and this movie. Well, I know what [...]
12 YEARS A SLAVE is as unsparing as its title. The film is a shattering experience-- for actors and audience--as we are dragged into the abyss of slavery through the documented real life experience of a free black man in upstate NY who was kidnapped from his family in the middle of his life, and [...]
What is it about Sandra Bullock and one-word titles that place her at the mercy of out of control modes of transport? In GRAVITY the vehicle is a space "bus" of sorts, thousands of light years away from the earthbound thrills of the movie that put her on the map--SPEED. Written and directed by Alfonso [...]
HURRY!! YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO A FREE SCREENING of Dreamworks Animationâs upcoming Deluxe Edition Blue-ray and DVD release: âSHREK THE MUSICALâ THE FIRST 25 PEOPLE TO RESPOND (via âContact Joyceâ on home page) WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WILL BE EMAILED A PASS FOR FOUR! Saturday, October 12, 2013 at 10:00 AM [...]
