We now have another reason to blindly leap onto the “Hunger Games” bandwagon. As it turns out, the cover art for the popular books and film(s) was designed by local UArts professor, Tim O’Brien. The image, which depicts a fictional “mockingjay,” probably has to do with the dystopian future or oppressive Continue reading »
Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts The highlight of these five nominees is easily the Pixar entry, La Luna, a magical, mostly wordless fable about two men and a young boy and a trip to the moon. To say what happens once they arrive would spoil the charm of this quaint short. Continue reading »
This poignant French import is a love story—about Romeo (co-writer/star Jérémie Elkaïm) and Juliette (director/co-writer/star Valérie Donzelli)—as well as a love story about this couple fighting to cure their ill son Adam. Declaration of War opens with the whirlwind romance between the young couple. After their son Adam is born, Continue reading »
Perhaps because this engrossing domestic/legal drama deals with a custody battle, A Separation has been dubbed an Iranian Kramer vs. Kramer. Yet this double Oscar nominee—for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay—is deeper and more morally complex, getting into some riveting issues, both legal and otherwise. Needing to Continue reading »
An invigorating action flick, Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, features a literally kick-ass performance by Gina Carano. The Strikeforce Women’s Champion plays Mallory, a rogue agent trying to figure out who set her up/wants her dead. The film opens in an upstate New York diner. Aaron (Channing Tatum) rendezvous with Mallory. The Continue reading »
This zippy portrait of Margaret Thatcher (a shrill Meryl Streep) toggles back and forth between England’s first female Prime Minister in her twilight years to moments of her significant political achievements. Taking it upon herself to clean out her late husband Dennis’ (Jim Broadbent) things, Thatcher has visions of his Continue reading »
Martin Scorsese’s stunning 3-D film enchants viewers right from its breathtaking opening sequence. Set in snowy 1930s Paris, a dazzling tracking shot pulls viewers into the action and into the train station, where much of the action of Hugo unfolds. The film introduces the title character (Asa Butterfield), a young Continue reading »
