Silver Linings Playbook I love to champion little movies and “Silver Linings Playbook” feels like one to me. And even though it garnered eight Oscar nominations I still maintain it’s just a little movie that was in the right place at the right time. I am also fond of movies with flawed characters and this is full of them. Pat, a man recently released from a mental institution and off his meds, is determined to restore his broken marriage. Pat…
Black Snake Moan (2006) Sometime you see someone in pain and you think you can’t possibly help them, but still you try. “Black Snake Moan” is about broken people. People that life has not been kind to, people on the short end of the stick. It’s a story about intervention, and about trying to anchor someone to an unmovable object, to help save them from themselves. Many people like this for being an entertaining story of a messed up girl…
Following the lead of FilmSpotting, I decided to list my favorite movies with Christ-Figures: Babette – Babette’s Feast The Iron Giant – The Iron Giant Spock – The Wrath of Kahn Mateo – In America Victor Laszlo – Casablanca Babette in “Babette’s Feast” is really worth viewing if you get the chance. It tells the story of a lavish feast bestowed on people and how they are changed by this incredible kindness. Also “In America” is just an amazing movie about an Irish family moving to…
In case you didn’t see this before, here is my 2012 end-of-year list: Argo (2012) Bernie (2011) The Cabin in the Woods (2012) Chronicle (2012) Flight (2012) Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011) Looper (2012) – My review of Looper Moonrise Kingdom (2012) Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) Silver Linings Playbook (2012) Sleepwalk with Me (2012) The Sessions (2012) I will probably add reviews for most of these once I re-watch them. Sam
Looper (2012) One of my favorite movies from last year, which I just re-watched after buying the DVD. I enjoyed it just as much the second time. You will probably want to see this if you like action/drama/romance movies with a little time travel mixed in to setup the story. It tackles the big questions like fate vs free will and nature vs nurture. And in the smaller scope it tackles the importance and outcome of making sacrifices. I don’t…
The tagline says it all “He’s still dead, but he’s getting warmer”. This is the first romantic comedy about the ultimate in mixed relationships: Zombie boy / Living girl. To say her dad is zombie intolerant is an understatement. He is, in classic drama movie setup, the head of the post apocalypse government and in charge of killing all zombies. I know what you’re thinking, “Is there any metaphorical meaning and substance beneath this light fluffy rom/com?” There is indeed. There are male/female analogies and a…
Rebecca (1940) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, staring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. Have you every been haunted by a ghost? How about an idea? Have you ever lived in the shadow of someone bigger than life? True to the concept the poor mousy bride in this story is never named. She is just referred to as “Mrs. de Winter. The titular character refers to the late Mrs. de Winter whose past is too grand and sophisticated for the new young bride to compete…
Take two 14 year old boys, a boat stuck in a tree, a fugitive hiding on an island in the middle of the Mississippi river, mix them together and what do you get? Not sure? What if you add in a trashy girlfriend? Still not sure? How about rich ex-father-in-law bent on revenge? Sound awful? Not even close. You get a gritty story about friendship, life, and the importance of the choices we make. The story centers around and hangs on these two…