Title: Still Alice
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Year: 2014
Director: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland
Top Billed Cast: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin
Brief Synopsis: A University professor discovers she has early onset Alzheimers as she and her husband learn to cope with along with their family.
My Word to the Wise: An excellently written story about the condition. It brings attention to the brain as a physical object and points out how important it is to take care of it. Though Alzheimers currently has no cure, we can understand what the patient is going through and be there for them. “Still Alice” helps us do that. This is a powerful and at times sad movie but an excellent one that I found educational and highly entertaining. The writer/director died a few months ago of a different brain ailment, ALS.
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Still Alice
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The Sweet Hereafter
As a critic, we sometimes challenge ourselves with films that have won awards. We do this whether or not we have any fire in the belly over it or a passionate interest. I watched this film because of its huge Metascore of a “90” and the many awards it has won. Though it started slow, I did enjoy this one.
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
R | 1h 52min | Drama | 21 November 1997 (USA)
A bus crash in a small town brings a lawyer to the town to defend the families, but he discovers that everything is not what it seems.
Director: Atom Egoyan
Writers: Russell Banks (novel), Atom Egoyan (screenplay)
Stars: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Caerthan BanksDirector Atom Egoyan is known for “Chloe” and “Devil’s Knot” among many more. He is an accomplished director. He knows how to write and ignite passion in his films. He shines a light on human nature.
There is an age-old topic here of money vs. retribution in court. Ian Holm plays the lawyer that has come to call on this very small snow covered town. It seems the school bus that held every child in the town veered off a cliff and sunk into the frozen lake. Sarah Polley plays one of the few who survived the crash. The film consists of this lawyer trying to get these people to press charges and then get a story together that will win them money. It’s a fun ride but the payoff is just mild. The lawyer learns some towns don’t care about winning lawsuits. There is much to discuss here. I give this film a 7/10
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Between Us (2016)
Streaming now on Netflix! This is an independent film that tries to show the reality of fights in a couple that probably shouldn’t be together but stay that way out of comfort. It shows we can get comfortable in familiar torture.
“Thirlby and Feldman play a couple confronted by the fear that settling down and getting married means…” -IMDB
Alison Sudol Nadia
Analeigh Tipton Veronica
Olivia Thirlby Dianne
Lesley Ann Warren ElsaRafael Palacio Illingworth
Comedy, Drama, Romance
2016
100min
IMDB Rating: 5.6Director, Rafael Palacio Illingworth, has directed 3 films as near as I can tell. Another film of his, “Macho,” is described as having a lot of sex scenes in between titles. He seems comfortable shooting sex scenes, there are many in this film as well. Mayeb it was just me but it seems these were forced and served to show how the lovers were incompatible.
The actors include Alison Sudol, Analeigh Tipton, Olivia Thirlby They all do a pretty good job but in my opinion the script isn’t realistic and that takes away from their impact.
A man and a woman feel pressured to get married so they begin to question why they are together.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This film is not very well made. Still, it does fit into the “chick flick” category. There is a coupe and they fight, a lot. They explore things and it’s a great film to discuss at Starbucks later. Expect little and be impressed as well as entertained. Please leave me a comment! This title is streaming now on Netflix!8/10
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The Ritual
I’d been waiting for this film to come into theaters and once again: we have a Netflix movie that never made it there. Is that bad? This is the first real horror film of 2018 and it certainly watches like one. Unlike some movies that have come down the pike in a forest that really weren’t horror like “The Witch” and “It Comes at Night,” this one has the elements of a horror and delivers as such.
The Ritual (2017)
1h 34min | Horror | 9 February 2018 (USA)
A group of college friends reunite for a trip to the forest, but encounter a menacing presence in the woods that’s stalking them.
Director: David Bruckner
Writers: Joe Barton, Adam Nevill (novel)
Stars: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-CollierThe director is David Bruckner, known for “V/H/S,” “Southbound,” and “The Signal.” Looking at these titles makes me realize he has a solid background in horror and “The Ritual” is his foray into the big time. This one will probably be enjoyed by more than the others. It’s an “on location” piece meaning it is filmed in the woods. This must have proved challenging. I found some pparts of it to be a little misguided but as a whole, this is a directorial accomplishment.
There is a house the hikers happen upon in the film. Upstairs there is an odd piece of ritual like art. It looks rustic and religious in form. I found not much was explained there and it never really added up for me what was happening there. It was if it was just being blamed on the supernatural when the scenes could have held better clues.
Other than the house scene, the film develops well throughout. The ending is a massive crescendo and it’s nothing you’d expected up to that point. By saying less, he says more. By suggesting the size and shape of creatures, he makes them all that more scary. Because it’s supernatural, we can’t really argue logic here which is good for the director because it’s lacking a bit there. Having said that, I found this horror film scary and full of suspense. There are many roads to Rome and this one definitely finds its way there. I give it a 8/10
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‘Star Trek: Beyond’ – Don’t Blink on This Ride
Starring: Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho
Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Directed By: Justin Lin
Studio: Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating
PG-13I saw Star Trek: Beyond last night on its second night after release. When I see Star Trek films, I usually miss some secret winks because I am not much of a “Trekkie” and therefore don’t know the labyrinth of secret passageways that many others I meet new. In fact, my wife, who is not a film critic, explains a lot to me when we go to see these films. Last night had a few parts I couldn’t figure out but I’ll avoid those.
Instead, I’ll tell you that Captain Kirk is put in a position to save the galaxy (common theme). The adventurous quest to do that is a rip-roaring ride! Directed by Justin Lin (Fast and the Furious), the spaceships are now the race cars. There is a lot of action in this film but I must disagree with some other critics who are saying it’s too fast and furious. There are moments of suspense as well and moments where the viewers is ban rest, stop, and get cerebral..
The visuals are stunning. Because this is a quick review intended to have “no spoilers,” I won’t describe them to you. I will say that in 1977 when Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness, and Mark Hamill saw the death star for the first time, it had a mind-blowing effect on movie goers. There is actually some stuff in this film that will leave you in “shock and awe” in a similar way. Please note however that the plot is pretty good and special effects are secondary to that, which always makes me happy.
There is so much in this film worthy of the ticket price. There is a side story Spock is dealing with, sense that virtually fill the movie with the now departed Anton Yelchin, a Smokin’ hot Zoe Zaldana, a vaguely funny Simon Pegg (but funny all the same.) I had a blast watching this film. I anticipate Trekkies will like the new villain Krall (Idris Elba). He’s a tortured creature with a lot of hate for the federation which makes for some really juicy fight scenes. I did have some issues with the film. Instead of developing the villain they sort of catapulted him into hate mode. I wanted to know more about him and why he became who he was. It was explained a little in a very rushed fashion in the last 1/4 of the film but I think doing that earlier would have invested me more in his character. For the haziness of the villain, I took one star away. This is an amazing film, I highly recommend it.
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True Grit (2010)
Long before Hailee Steinfeld wowed audiences in “Edge of Seventeen,” she played this role of the teenage girl in “True Grit.” It was a great casting choice since she has the same sassy attitude as the girl in the original. She works perfectly alongside Jeff Bridges who definitely takes the original role of Rooster Cogburn and gives John Wayne a run for his money. This remake is a lot of fun.
True Grit (2010)
PG-13 | 1h 50min | Adventure, Drama, Western | 22 December 2010 (USA)
A stubborn teenager enlists the help of a tough U.S. Marshal to track down her father’s murderer.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Writers: Joel Coen (screenplay), Ethan Coen (screenplay) | 1 more credit »
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee SteinfeldThe directing duo here, Ethan and Joel Coen, are a dynamo and probably need no introduction. They took on a huge undertaking with this remake and in most ways pulled it off. They inject a humor into their films that starts to feel familiar the more of their movies you see. It is here but the general vibe of the film seems to be in effort to bring the original “True Grit” to a modern audience.
Watching the film, it was like the remake of a sing note for note. The only differences were the drunken growling style of Bridges voice contrasted against the nasally, self-assured voice of John Wayne. Josh Brolin and Matt Damon really didn’t add much to the roles they played either. I think in reflection, I enjoyed the original immensely and also the remake but not enough to really justify them making it. The Cohen Brothers are original dudes. They shouldn’t attempt to copy a masterpiece unless they are going to put their own changes into it.
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