There must be something about Kathy Bates starring in a Stephen King film adaptation and in Dolores Claiborne, she deserved the Oscar with a wonderfully subdued performance alongside a respectable cast.
Home for the Holidays is, to me anyway, holiday classic that probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves. While Planes, Trains and Automobiles is in its own right a great Thanksgiving film, this one deserves its place on the holiday as well.
American Pastoral receives, let’s say, mediocre reviews but for my money, I found all of the performances genuine and the story rather compelling, if not outright depressing and sad; for his first outing as director, Ewan McGregor did a fine job.
Lionsgate Home Entertainment has announced the date and released artwork for the drama, American Pastoral starring Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly and Dakota Fanning and directed by McGregor. Click on the link below or image to the left to check out the features and artwork.
Louder Than Bombs is an uneven but well acted drama featuring strong performances by Gabriel Byrne and Jesse Eisenberg. It’s nothing memorable but for who enjoy character dramas, it’s certainly worth a rental. The DVD released through Sony offers good audio and video transfers.
At Close Range is a bit uneven but still effective character drama headlined by a few great performances especially by Sean Penn and Christopher Walken. Despite some flaws, it’s a compelling story and worth checking out at least once. The Blu-ray released by Twilight Time is nice and all with good video/audio transfers yet again comes at a high price.
Godzilla version 2014 isn’t a bad movie, not by any stretch, but it didn’t quite meet its full potential. The visual effects are great and when Godzilla finally shows up on screen, 59-minutes in no less, the energy picks up only to get bogged down again with the human element which, despite some good actors (mainly Strathairn, Cranston and Watanabe), feels like a waste of time with minimal payoff either emotionally or thematically.
Lincoln is bolstered by strong performances especially from Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones and although I appreciate Spielberg limiting such an interesting character, and President, to two aspects of his time in the White House, for whatever reason the story lacked an emotional punch. However, in spite of that, this is still a very well made historical drama and well worth checking out as you do get a better glimpse of the man beyond the legend he has become today.
The Firm is a top notch and taut legal thriller showcasing why Tom Cruise was a superstar in the ‘90s with a great supporting cast who fit their roles perfectly, avid readers of the novel will disagree, however. The Blu-ray itself has a nice video transfer and an acceptable audio while failing in the features depart, although it’s no surprise Paramount wouldn’t spring for new features.
The Uninvited isn’t a particularly a great movie by any stretch but it did manages to exceed my own low expectations given it was advertised as yet another PG-13 teen horror movie. Also, some may not like the ending but for me it was surprising enough, even if the groundwork to get to that point was a bit lazy.
