Die in a Gunfight looked like it could’ve been a fun, off-the-rails action-thriller and instead is a Romeo and Juliet story that never really clicks and there’s not a whole lot that was actually entertaining and the two leads didn’t have much chemistry.
Almost Famous is a superbly made music-drama from Cameron Crowe, digging back to his days as a teenager writing for Rolling Stone. The movie features a fantastic cast with Kate Hudson and Billy Crudup being the highlights.
Almost Famous is a superbly made music-drama from Cameron Crowe, digging back to his days as a teenager writing for Rolling Stone. The movie features a fantastic cast with Kate Hudson and Billy Crudup being the highlights.
Big Fish is perhaps one of my favorite films from Tim Burton, one with a wonderful emotional core and features great performances from Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor.
After the Wedding features some great performances by a respectable cast that includes Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams and Billy Crudup, along with the young and talented Abby Quinn, but the film falters in the script and editing.
Mission: Impossible III is a nice change-up from the lame sequel with a better emotional core for Ethan Hunt as a character and Cruise seemed far more at ease in the role compared to M:I-2.
Even though I did find Justice League entertaining enough, there’s no denying there was a certain amount of disappointment leading to the build-up and not being able to see what was originally intended, not to mention the deleted footage seen in the various trailers. If you go in just expecting a insubstantial popcorn flick, it’s fine, but it certainly did not live up to the title.
Alien: Covenant had plenty of potential as it starts off well enough before taking a nosedive into derivative territory, filled with idiotic characters, and an utterly stupid finale.
20th Century Women is a fine ensemble drama with some great performances, namely by Annette Bening and Greta Gerwig with a compelling enough story. The Blu-ray released by Lionsgate offers up good video and audio transfers and some so-so bonus material.
Emotionally distant at times, Jackie is propelled mostly from the Natalie Portman’s performance and also features respectable production and costume designs as well as an intriguing enough character study.
Spotlight might not be at the top of my best of 2015 list but it’s still a well made film all around from the efficient direction, tight writing and brilliant performances (save for Ruffalo in the one scene) so I have no qualms with its recent win for Best Picture and say it’s well worth purchase.
The Longest Week has a great cast and an interesting story, but the execution was off and seemed to draw from other, often better, movies and filmmakers like P.T. Anderson and Woody Allen, the latter especially. If you can get over the pretentious nature of the two male leads then it might be worth a rental, otherwise skip this misfire of a drama-comedy.