Tag: Drama

The Revenant Review

I can’t say I was particularly happy walking out of the theater after seeing “The Revenant” and being greeted by cold winter weather, since the whole 156 minute runtime takes place in cold winter weather. Fortunately for me, though, the movie was really good.

The film is loosely based on the true story of a frontiersman named Hugh Glass, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Glass is the navigator on a fur-trading expedition that goes awry when the group is attacked by Arikara Warriors. The problems increase for the expedition when Glass is attacked by a huge bear.

With resources dwindling, the captain of the voyage, played by Domhnall Gleeson agrees to leave the trapper John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and Glass’ son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) as well as a young adventurer named Bridger (Will Poulter) behind to take care of Glass. Wanting to escape the barren forest, though, Fitzgerald decides to leave Glass to die and when Hawk tries to protest he is killed. This leaves Glass having to fight to survive.

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Trumbo movie review

Director:

  • Jay Roach

Cast:

  • Bryan Cranston
  • Diane Lane
  • Helen Mirren
  • Louis C.K.
  • Roger Bart
  • John Goodman
  • Rated: R

Bryan Cranston plays the title character and legendary Oscar winning screenwriter in “Trumbo” which picks up with the lives of the protagonists just as the Red Scare is starting to pick up.

The fear of communism is on full display in the movie and one of the targets of that fear is Dalton Trumbo as well as other Hollywood writers. The film documents this struggle with the Red Scare, mainly through Trumbo’s perspective, featuring how they had to go to jail and were even blacklisted from working in the film industry.

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Carol movie review

Director:

  • Todd Haynes

Cast:

  • Cate Blanchett
  • Rooney Mara
  • Kyle Chandler
  • Sarah Paulson
  • Rated: R

Rooney Mara plays Therese Belivet, a young department store worker in Director Todd Haynes’ “Carol.” Toward the beginning of the film, it appears that Therese is just coasting through life without having found much of a direction yet.

That is until she meets Carol Aird (Blanchett), an older woman who is in the midst of a divorce which is subsequently leading to a custody battle. After the two meet, they begin a relationship which allows them to be themselves, yet this brings problems, too, especially with Carol’s legal matters.

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The Danish Girl review

Director:

  • Tom Hooper

Cast:

  • Alicia Vikander
  • Eddie Redmayne
  • Matthias Schoenaerts
  • Rated: R

“The Danish Girl” is a film inspired by the true story of the first sex reassignment surgery patient, a transgender woman named Lili Elbe. The film begins in the 1920s, and shows how Lili (Redmayne) was originally Einar Wegener, an artist living in Denmark with his wife and fellow painter Gerda (Vikander).

Toward the beginning of the film, Einar fills in for a model that was absent for a painting Gerda was working on, which forces him to wear women’s clothing. In doing so, Einar realizes something that he’s really known his whole life, that his gender identity is actually that of a woman. The rest of the film follows the story of how the protagonist became Lili Elbe.

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The Hateful Eight review

Director:

  • Quentin Tarantino

Cast:

  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • Kurt Russell
  • Jennifer Jason Leigh
  • Walton Goggins
  • Demian Bichir
  • Tim Roth
  • Michael Madsen
  • Bruce Dern
  • James Parks
  • Rated: R

In “The Hateful Eight,” Samuel L. Jackson plays Major Marquis Warren, a former member of the U.S. Cavalry and now full time Bounty Hunter in the state of Wyoming. The movie begins with Warren needing a ride after the death of his horse and that need puts him in contact with another stage coach.

This stage coach has John Ruth (Russell) riding in it. A fellow bounty hunter who is taking a prisoner, Daisy Domergue (Leigh), in to hang for an alive reward. Ruth agrees to allow Warren come along. After picking up another stranded person, a sheriff played by Walton Goggins, the group makes it to a haberdashery where they come in contact with another group of people. The situation starts to become suspicious, though, when a murder occurs.

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Joy review

Director:

  • David O. Russell

Cast:

  • Jennifer Lawrence
  • Robert De Niro
  • Bradley Cooper
  • Edgar Ramierez
  • Virginia Madsen
  • Isabella Rossellini
  • Rated: PG-13

“Joy” is inspired by the true story of businesswoman Joy Mangano (played by Lawrence) and details her rise from a person struggling to get by to an inventor who starts her own company. The story begins with Joy working a dead end job, having to take care of her mother who doesn’t do anything but watch soaps, having to raise her children and dealing with her ex-husband.

During a boat outing with her father Rudy (De Niro) and his new girlfriend Trudy, an accident happens that gives Joy the idea to create a new type of mop. What follows is her story of trying to manufacture her invention and get it out to market just as shopping channels are being introduced to the public.

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REVIEW: ‘Room’

Director:

  • Lenny Abrahamson

Cast:

  • Brie Larson
  • Jacob Tremblay
  • Sean Bridges
  • Joan Allen
  • Rated: R

Brie Larson plays Joy in “Room,” a young woman who is held captive in a single small space and is left to care for her son Jack (Tremblay). Her captor, only referred to as Old Nick (Bridges), sexually abuses Joy on a constant basis and only leaves her with minor needs for both her and her son to survive.

Since it’s shown directly in the trailer I will say in this review that both Jack and Joy do manage to escape. However, this still leads to new challenges as they both have to learn how to cope.

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REVIEW: ‘Brooklyn’

Director:

  • John Crowley

Cast:

  • Saoirse Ronan
  • Jim Broadbent
  • Julie Walters
  • Emory Cohen
  • Fiona Glascott
  • Rated: PG-13

“Brooklyn” follows the story of a young Irish woman named Eilis (Ronan), who gets a great opportunity to leave her homeland and travel to New York. While this does lead to a heartbreaking experience for her since she has to leave her mother and sister behind, her arrival in Brooklyn does offer some life changing moments.

As she begins to work at a new job and live at a boarding house, Eilis also meets a young man named Tony (Cohen). The two hit it off quickly and develop a strong relationship. Problems start to arise, though, when tragedy occurs in Ireland that may pull Eilis away from her new life in the states.

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Spotlight review

Director:
Tom McCarthy
Cast:
Mark Ruffalo
Michael Keaton
Rachel McAdams
Liev Schrieber
John Slattery
Brian d’Arcy James
Rated: R

“Spotlight” follows the titular investigative journalism team at the Boston Globe in the early 2000s when the reporters uncovered a massive child molestation cover-up within the Catholic Church.

The film picks up when new editor Marty Baron (Schreiber) tasks the Spotlight team, which includes Mike Rezendes (Ruffalo), Walter Robinson (Keaton), Sacha Pfeiffer (McAdams) and Matt Carroll (James), with digging deeper into the cover-up by the church which had been reported on to a smaller extent beforehand.

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Burnt review

Director:
John Wells
Cast:
Bradley Cooper
Sienna Miller
Daniel Bruhl
Riccardo Scamarcio
Sam Keely
Rated: R

Bradley Cooper is Adam Jones in “Burnt,” a chef who became famous in Paris for his talent before hitting hard times as an alcoholic and drug addict. The movie begins, though, with Jones being a sober, more humble version of himself, ready to return to the culinary world.

To do so, Jones goes to London, and through some of his connections (although they are reluctant) opens a new restaurant with the hope of attaining the coveted third Michelin Star.

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