Film Review: “Moneyball”

Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in MONEYBALL

starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Kerris Dorsey

written by: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin

directed by: Bennett Miller

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some strong language

Continue reading “Film Review: “Moneyball””

Film Review: “Straw Dogs”

James Marsden tries to reason with Alexander Skarsgard's muscle tee in STRAW DOGS.

starring: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard, James Woods, Dominic Purcell, Rhys Coiro, Willa Holland

written and directed by: Rod Lurie

MPAA: Rated R for strong brutal violence including a sexual attack, menace, some sexual content, and pervasive language

Continue reading “Film Review: “Straw Dogs””

Film Review: “Drive”

Ill-fated henchman and Ryan Gosling in DRIVE

starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks, Oscar Isaac

written by: Hossein Amini

directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn

MPAA: Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence, language and some nudity.

Continue reading “Film Review: “Drive””

Film Review: “Contagion”

Jude Law plays a San Francisco blogger in CONTAGION

starring: Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Ehle, Demetri Martin, John Hawkes, Elliott Gould, Enrico Colantoni, Sanaa Lathan, Bryan Cranston, Anna Jacoby-Heron

written by: Scott Z. Burns

directed by: Steven Soderbergh

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for disturbing content and some language

Continue reading “Film Review: “Contagion””

Film Review: “Warrior”

Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte in WARRIOR

starring: Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison, Kevin Dunn

written by: Gavin O’Connor, Anthony Tambakis & Cliff Dorfman

directed by: Gavin O’Connor

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense mixed martial arts fighting, some language and thematic material

Continue reading “Film Review: “Warrior””

Spinning Platters Interview: Vera Farmiga on “Higher Ground”

Vera Farmiga in HIGHER GROUND

“This is challenging! This discourse is challenging! This is a campaign that is more rigorous than the Up in the Air Oscar campaign. Those questions were like, ‘What is it like to kiss George Clooney?'” But Vera Farmiga wouldn’t have it any other way. The Oscar-nominated actress, 38, is making her directorial debut with Higher Ground, adapted for the screen by Carolyn S. Briggs (and Tim Metcalfe) from her memoir, This Dark World. It is a finely observed, deeply felt spiritual character study about a woman named Corinne (Farmiga). Yes, this film dares to address religion, specifically evangelical Christianity. But it does so in a manner as completely disarming, sensitive, and uncompromising as Farmiga herself.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Vera Farmiga on “Higher Ground””

Film Review: “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”

Bailee Madison in DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK
starring: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison

written by: Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins

directed by: Troy Nixey

MPAA: Rated R for violence and terror

Continue reading “Film Review: “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark””

Film Review: “Fright Night”

Anton Yelchin and Colin Farrell in FRIGHT NIGHT

starring: Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Imogen Poots, Dave Franco, Reid Ewing

written by: Marti Noxon

directed by: Craig Gillespie

MPAA: Rated R for bloody horror violence and language including some sexual references

Continue reading “Film Review: “Fright Night””

Film Review: “Conan the Barbarian”

Rose McGowan blows in CONAN THE BARBARIAN

starring: Jason Momoa, Stephen Lang, Rose McGowan, Rachel Nichols, Ron Perlman, Leo Howard

written by: Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer and Sean Hood

directed by: Marcus Nispel

MPAA: Rated R for strong bloody violence, some sexuality and nudity

Continue reading “Film Review: “Conan the Barbarian””

Spinning Platters Interview: Miranda July on “The Future”

Miranda July in THE FUTURE

Miranda July is an anomaly in the film industry. Perhaps this is because, although she has experienced success within it, she understands there is much more to the creative world outside of it. A multimedia artist in the truest sense of the term, July has been celebrated as much for her performance art as for her filmmaking. Her multimedia pieces have been shown and performed in galleries around the world. Her debut collection of short stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You (2007), won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. And her debut film, Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005), which July wrote and directed as well as starred in, won four prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, in addition to numerous critics awards and a Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Miranda July on “The Future””