It is 1892 New Mexico, and the violence and genocide that has shaped the Europeans’ settlement in the American West is winding down. Hostiles’ difficult opening scene shows a gang of marauding Indians slaughter almost an entire family of white settlers, leaving with their horses and setting fire to their homestead. But then the next …
Movies have always had the powerful ability to not only entertain, but to inform. Movies can bring attention to little-acknowledged moments of history, whether good or bad, by telling a story that will (hopefully) intrigue an audience and push them to open their eyes to the past, and, hopefully, to learn from it. Starting in …
I totally enjoyed watching The Fighter, but walked away from it chewing on all the characters, except, well, the fighter himself. Poor Marky Mark, bless his heart, his limited acting skills, and his excellent abs and eyebrows… His Micky Ward was so overwhelmed on screen at all times, if not in the boxing ring itself, …
Here’s the thing, though: if you assume your audience already knows the story – in this case, that of Moses (Christian Bale) and the freeing of the Hebrews from slavery at the hands of Pharoah Ramses the Great (Joel Edgerton) – then you’d better make sure your version knocks every other version they’ve seen out of the …
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Out of the Furnace. From the trailers, it looked like a revenge thriller, with shaggy Christian Bale toting a rifle to hunt down the rednecks who did his brother wrong. Well, that is kind of the story, but is really only half the story. Quite literally half, as …
Batman Begins is, obviously, the story of how Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. As a child he falls into a well full of bats. Haunted by the experience, Bruce freaks out over some shadowy images at the opera, and asks his parents if they can leave. They oblige, and as they exit the theater, they are …
As I write this review, The Dark Knight is the #1 Movie of All Time on the IMDB Top 250 readers’ poll. At 115,000 votes and counting, will there be a backlash? Will the fanboys and girls continue to dominate the polls? Is it, hands down, the greatest superhero movie of all time? One thing …
Someone needs to give Christian Bale a sandwich and some diet counseling. If this guy continues to gain and lose alarming amounts of poundage for movie roles (see also The Machinist), he’s going to have some kidney problems (or worse) coming his way soon enough. I’m just saying. But audiences seem to dig this sort …
Maybe my expectations weren’t as high as the nearest fanboy or girl. Maybe I’m just kind of picky and want to be emotionally involved in a film, with developed characters and an interesting story arc. Maybe I’m just opening up myself to be flogged. But after all the fuss, hype (and a very unfortunate opening …