Posts filed under 'All Reviews'
SEPTIEN- 2011. Synopsis by Netflix. “Writer-director Michael Tully also stars in this quirky tale of broken ties as Cornelius Rawlings, a long-absent son who returns to his dead parents’ farm to reunite with his surviving siblings. His brother Ezra (Robert Longstreet) is a Jesus freak, while his brother Amos (Onur Tukel) embraces Satan and sports. Meanwhile, Cornelius is content to call getting alternately drunk and high a form of living.” At Sundance 2011. OK audience and professional reviews. TRDB.
Tags: drama
January 29th, 2011
MAD BASTARDS- 2011. Premise by Netflix. “Tough men try to do right by their families in this Australian production featuring an Aboriginal cast of non-professional actors. TJ (Dean Daley-Jones) travels across northwestern Australia to the Kimberley region to track down his son Bullet (Ngaire Pigram), who’s fast on his way to repeating his father’s mistakes. Meanwhile TJ’s police officer father seeks to undo the damage to his community and right some wrongs of his own.” At Sundance 2011.
1/11- I enjoyed this movie ON-DEMAND straight from Sundance. Good story and great music but a little difficulty in understanding the speech. Should have had sub-titles. TRDB. Comcast On-Demand.
Tags: drama
January 29th, 2011
BHUTTO- 2010. Premise by Netflix. “Duane Baughman and Johnny O’Hara’s documentary is an in-depth and at times incendiary look at the epic life and tragic death of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, whose 2007 assassination sent her country’s political system into a tailspin. As a passionate and outspoken voice of reason and democracy, Bhutto‘s return to the seat of power seemed inevitable; but as a deeply divisive figure, her death was perhaps inescapable as well.” Very good early reviews.
5/19/11- A very well done documentary if a little one-sided toward the Bhutto family. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: documentary
January 29th, 2011
THE YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF- 2008. Premise by Netflix. “Recently released from jail, convict Brett Hanson (William Hurt) grows close to a young couple, Martine (Kristen Stewart) and Gordy (Eddie Redmayne), while journeying back home to his wife, May (Maria Bello). Set in Louisiana, this romantic road trip drama explores the loneliness everyone carries. Director Udayan Prasad remakes Yôji Yamada’s acclaimed 1977 Japanese film, which was adapted from a column by American novelist Pete Hamill.”
3/10- Very good Hurt as usual and I liked the film. TRDB.
Tags: drama
January 29th, 2011
MIDDLE MEN- 2009. Premise by Netflix. “After spotting a big financial opportunity in the future of Internet pornography, straightlaced entrepreneur Jack Harris (Luke Wilson) enlists his pals Buck (Gabriel Macht) and Wayne (Giovanni Ribisi) to help him develop an online billing company specializing in adult entertainment. But as the firm takes off, Jack finds some unexpected kinks in the business of kink — including mobsters, the FBI, con men and terrorists.” Mixed reviews, more negative than positive.
2/11- I have to admit that I actually enjoyed this movie, particularly the narrative style in which it was presented. TRDB.Netflix.
Tags: Comedy, drama
January 29th, 2011
HIDEAWAY- 2009. Premise by Netflix. “When Louis (Melvil Poupaud) dies of a drug overdose in Paris, his wealthy mother instructs his strung-out but pregnant girlfriend, Mousse (Isabelle Carré), to get an abortion. Determined to keep her child, Mousse flees Paris for a country home. Louis’s brother (Louis-Ronan Choisy) visits, and she develops a fascination with him that is both erotic and angry. François Ozon crafts an intimate portrait of an enigmatic woman seeking a purpose.” Good reviews.
2/11- Very well done and I enjoyed the movie very much. TRDB. Netflix Streaming and also on DVD.
Tags: drama, Foreign
January 29th, 2011
UNMADE BEDS- 2009. Premise by Netflix. “The lives of Axl (Fernando Tielve), who’s searching for his long-lost father, and Vera (Déborah François), who’s recovering from a recent breakup, crisscross — and eventually collide — after they both take up residence in a London flat populated with artsy, free-spirited squatters. Director Alexis Dos Santos’s intimate and imaginative film about youthful awakenings also stars Michiel Huisman, Katia Winter and Richard Lintern.” Good reviews.
2/11- Despite some unexplainable good reviews I found this movie flighty, devoid of any character development and the characters completely unlikable. I turned it off. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: drama
January 29th, 2011
PARIAH- 2011. Premise by Netflix. “Brooklyn teen Alike (Adepero Oduye) is a model child around her devoutly religious family, but she sheds the good-girl image to reveal a harder side during a nightclub excursion with butch pal Laura (Pernell Walker) in this coming-of-age tale of urban identity and sexual expression. With curfew looming and her parents none the wiser, Alike must catch the bus back home, where she faces the complex negotiation of her contradictory worlds.” At Sundance 2011. Great reviews. TRDB.
5/24/12- I liked this movie very much. A very difficult scene to watch between mother and daughter at the end of the movie. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: drama
January 29th, 2011
C.R.A.Z.Y.- 2005. Premise by Netflix. “There are five boys in the Beaulieu family — Christian, Raymond, Antoine, Zachary and Yvan. But Zac (played by Emile Vallee and Marc-Andre Grondin) is the only one who’s gay. That’s why growing up in Montreal alongside his heterosexual brothers and his strict, emotionally distant father (Michel Cote) proves especially challenging for the blossoming outsider, who finds solace in the music of Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones and David Bowie.”
1/11- I enjoyed this movie a lot although a bit too long. Good depiction of what it’s like to be different in general and gay in particular. TRDB. Netflix Streaming.
Tags: drama, Foreign
January 24th, 2011
HERE- 2011. Premise by Netflix. “When he travels to Armenia to make a set of hyperaccurate, satellite-based maps of the country, professional cartographer Will Shepard (Ben Foster) falls in with Gadarine Najarian (Lubna Azabal), a disaffected photographer trying to reconnect with her roots. Deciding to travel the country together, the pair embark on an unsettling journey of discovery into the Armenian landscape and into their solitary lives. Braden King directs this drama.” Mentioned in NY Times on 1/22/11 re Sundance.
4/13/12- Weak review in today’s NY Times. OK reviews by other critics and only fair audience response. TRDB.
8/10/12- I found this movie interesting if a little pretentious with some of the extra voice-overs by Peter Coyote. Good acting and a good story however. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: drama, Foreign
January 23rd, 2011
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