The Focus Features: 10-Movie Spotlight Collection is a good selection of dramas, some better than others and one that is a personal favorite of mine (Lost in Translation). That being said, this is only worth picking up if you don’t own any of the 10 films, though the cost per movie is reasonable.
Dark Waters is a well made, legal drama that’s in the same vein as 1999’s The Insider and while I don’t feel it’s as effectively directed by Todd Haynes, it is still well worth checking out.
The Hustle is actually an appropriate title as this remake is devoid of any originality or even an attempt at it, merely taking every plot point from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It was all a lazy cash grab, which most remakes are, but this was far more blatant about it.
Serenity is certainly an oddball of a movie and although certainly the terrible critical reception didn’t help, it’s no wonder why the studio probably had a hell of time on how to market this.
Ocean’s Eight isn’t as slick of a film compared with Ocean’s Eleven, but despite a lacking and bland cinematography and some jarring dialogue, I did generally find this entry into the franchise mostly entertaining for the ensemble cast.
The Dark Knight Rises might be a slight step down from its predecessors in terms of story, but the performances from Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Anne Hathaway were all top notch and it was a satisfying enough conclusion to the trilogy.
Interstellar very well may be my favorite Christopher Nolan movie, perhaps even edging out The Dark Knight which is saying something from a Batman fan. The performance from Matthew McConaughey was magnificent and powerful and the story itself captivating.
Alice Through the Looking Glass is a messy movie that, as the box office showed, never should’ve been made. The actors seemed uninterested and probably were in it to make a few (million) bucks, Depp especially, but beyond that, it’s such a thin story.
The Intern has its problems for sure, specifically in the screenplay department where it is a half baked plot and gets sidetracked with semi-subplots that don’t amount to very much and are a bit too outlandish. That said, I did like the core cast, particularly Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway who made this far more entertaining than it really deserved.
Song One is a simple romantic-drama that, albeit not wholly satisfying like Once or Begin Again, still features solid performances by Anne Hathaway, Johnny Flynn and Mary Steenburgen. The Blu-ray released by Cinedigm offers good video and audio transfer while the bonus material is disappointing with no commentary or even making-of featurette.
Song One is a simple romantic-drama that, albeit not wholly satisfying like Once or Begin Again, still features solid performances by Anne Hathaway, Johnny Flynn and Mary Steenburgen. The DVD released by Cinedigm offers good video and audio transfer while the bonus material is disappointing with no commentary or even making-of featurette.
Love & Other Drugs is propelled by the leads rather than the story. I give major credit for the brave performances by Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal as they don’t go overboard with characters that could’ve been walking movie clichés. Now, the script itself is serviceable but nothing special, in fact it sticks pretty closely to the formula.
Valentine’s Day may be a two-hour cliché but at the same time it’s fairly harmless and might please some people out there, but for me, I like my romantic-comedies to have, oh I don’t know, a little comedy thrown in there. I know… that’s a silly thing to expect.