No one exposes the humor in heartbreak more effectively than Alexander Payne. Over his four features – Election (1999), About Schmidt (2002), Sideways (2004), and The Descendants (2011) – Payne has proven himself a master of the comedy-drama, using satirical depictions of contemporary American society to strip back the guards of his main characters who are plagued by existential crises. Nebraska, Payne’s latest masterpiece of moral poignancy, is yet another example of his adroit ability to dig deep and find meaning in regrets and failed dreams. Starring Will Forte and sure-fire Oscar nominee Bruce Dern, the film focuses on Woody Grant, a cantankerous old grump who believes he has won a million dollars after receiving one of those obvious, eye-rolling spam emails that tout a cash prize but really only function to sell magazine subscriptions. Stubborn and blinded by a lack of meaning in his own life, Woody takes the…
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I’ve never read Markus Zusak’s 2006 historical-fiction novel The Book Thief, though I’ve seen and heard many a classmate obsesses over the World War II-set coming of age drama, which spent more than 230 weeks atop The New York Time’s bestseller list. Narrated by Death, Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German foster child who is taken in by Hans and Rosa Hubermann, a lovingly aged couple who end up hiding a Jew in their basement as the Nazi regime takes control of the country. My mom was a passionate fan of the book this past summer and I remember her reading it in tiny chunks, stopping after a chapter or two and taking a few deep breathes to clear her mind from the dark subject matter. Anytime I would ask how she was enjoying the story she would look at me and sigh, “It’s…
You know a blockbuster means business when it opens not with an eye-popping destruction of an alien planet, not with a high-octane car race, and not with a charismatic billionaire experimenting with his mechanical suit, but instead with a bleak image of cold, grey mountains and a close-up of its protagonist in a state of paranoid distress. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the sequel to last year’s global phenomenon that grossed a staggering $408 million domestically (more than any single Harry Potter or Twilight film), is the best blockbuster of the year because it’s the most personal. Don’t get me wrong, there’s enough razzle-dazzle spectacle here to feed even Zach Snyder’s CGI appetite, but screenwriters Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) and Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) never lose sight of the beating heart of this stirring franchise – Katniss Everdeen, played with relatable, emotional…
It’s an absolute shame when a spirited ensemble shows up to party only for an extremely weak screenplay to drop the ball. The Best Man Holiday, the over sentimental sequel to 1999’s surprise hit The Best Man, is such a shame. Released 14 years ago, the original, which has since become a staple of USA/TBS Saturday mornings, was a fresh and edgy comedy, featuring humorously honest conversations about sex, relationships, and faith; it was also a breakthrough along side Waiting to Exhale, two films that helped usher in an era of African American-dramedies that have become dominated by Tyler Perry. While a sequel to a 14-year-old sleeper hit seems like a recipe for pointless disaster, The Best Man Holiday has enough heart and humor from its expert cast to please audiences, though it can’t help itself from going emotional overboard in its third act.
After his critically acclaimed roles in The Lincoln Lawyer, Bernie, Killer Joe, and Magic Mike, the media became fascinated with the reemergence of Matthew McConaughey as an actor of remarkable, chameleon-like talent. Since 2011, the term “McConnaissance” has appeared in print on numerous occasions to describe the artistic rebirth of the once romantic-comedy king, and while it may have been an appropriate term back in 2011, by now it is all enough. I’ll be damned if I hear the question of whether or not McConaughey is a great actor one more time. Sure he wooed Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner and got caught up with Sarah Jessica Parker in the infamously abysmal Failure to Launch and took his shirt off in countless other rom-coms and action adventures like Sarah, but that McConaughey has left the building and after 2013 – first in April’s remarkable Mud and now the…
After years of Nichols Sparks beating into my brain that all romances should be set in the gorgeous landscapes of the South and include emotionally damaged loners, pardon me when I say About Time is the freshest-feeling romance in quite awhile. While some may roll their eyes over the emotional manipulation – the film practically screams “LIVE EVERY DAY TO THE FULLEST” – allow me to cheer for About Time for refreshingly being told from the male perspective. This minor storytelling alteration injects the film with more life than you could think; gone is the damsel in distress or the gorgeous woman with a dark, historical secret and in its place is an everyman-kind-of-guy who is more appealing than any romantic lead played by Julianne Hough or Amanda Seyfried. With a likeable cast and director Richard Curtis working right in his wheelhouse (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill…
F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said, “Action is character”, and nowhere is that more true than in J.C. Chandor’s startlingly silent All Is Lost. Starring Robert Redford as a nameless sailor who wakes up to find that a shipping container has damaged his boat during a voyage across the Atlantic, the film contains virtually no dialogue except for a minute of voice over that opens the film. The rest is silence. Just the tranquil noise of wind and waves or the ferocity of a perfect storm. Even with Alex Ebert’s somber score, the film still possesses a profound silence, an absence of distraction that makes it impossible to look away. What’s left on screen is Redford and Redford alone for 100 minutes. Tom Hanks had Wilson the volleyball in Cast Away. Suraj Sharma had a tiger named Richard Parker in Life of Pi. Even Sandra Bullock has George Clooney…
SHARF @ THE MOVIES 