Tag: Drama

Saving Mr. Banks review

Director:
John Lee Hancock
Cast:
Emma Thompson
Tom Hanks
Colin Farrell
Paul Giamatti
Rated: PG-13
Trailer

Walt Disney Pictures gives you a behind-the-scene look at how Walt Disney Pictures acquired and made “Mary Poppins.”

Despite the film taking place at the Disney studio, the focus is completely on the original author of “Mary Poppins,” Pamela P.L. Travers (Thompson). The movie goes into detail about how she traveled to California to meet with Walt Disney (Hanks) himself to work out a deal to let Disney take the rights for a movie adaption of her beloved novel.

Travers, for much of the movie, is absolutely reluctant to have her book be made into a film adaption, however Disney, his film crew, and even flashbacks from the past help her become more comfortable with the idea as the film moves along.

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Philomena review

Director:
Stephen Frears
Cast:
Judi Dench
Steve Coogan
Sophie Kennedy Clark
Rated: PG-13

“Philomena” was inspired by a true story of a woman who went on quite a journey to find her son that she was forced to give up for adoption at a young age. Judi Dench stars as the title character in the film, however, the movie opens with exposition of another character named Martin (Coogan). Martin is a journalist whose main focus is on the world of politics. When he is fired from his position, though, he decides to write a human interest story on Philomena and because of this the two go on a journey to find out what became of her son.

As the story goes along Philomena’s past is brought up of how she was forced to live in a convent after giving up her son for adoption. The film also shows both Martin and Philomena traveling to the United States to discover more about her son.

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Dallas Buyers Club review

Director:
Jean-Marc Vallee
Cast:
Matthew McConaughey
Jared Leto
Jennifer Garner
Rated: R

Matthew McConaughey continues his great streak of movies lately with “Dallas Buyers Club.”

In the movie, McConaugey plays Ron Woodroof. An electrician living in Texas in the late 1980s. Woodroof lives a life full of doing drugs, having unprotected sex and not having much of a plan for the future. His world is flipped upside down, though, when he goes to the doctor and discovers he is HIV positive.

As Woodroof begins to come to terms that he does have the illness, he learns that the FDA and pharmaceutical companies don’t allow certain medications into the United States and that an unproven drug is being sold to the masses. Woodroof begins to travel out of the country to get new, better, medication at first to just make money, however, over time he learns it effects an entire community.

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Out of the Furnace review

Director:
Scott Cooper
Cast:
Woody Harrelson
Christian Bale
Casey Affleck
Zoe Saldana
Rated: R
Trailer

Woody Harrelson was such a bad guy in this, I really wanted Bale to throw a Baterang at him.

“Out of the Furnace” follows Russell (Bale), a man who seems to have things going fairly well for him. He’s honest, hard working and tries to do the right things. His brother Rodney (Affleck), though, is a bit more troubled. Rodney is an Iraqi war veteran who has been on multiple tours because of the stop loss system.

Instead of looking for a steady job, Rodney enters into underground fighting rings. This gets him into more trouble, however, especially with ring leader Harlan DeGroat. After some issues Rodney ends up going missing and Russell, who’s life is going in a downward spiral, has to start thinking of making a decision on whether he should take the law into his own hands.

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Nebraska review

Director:
Alexander Payne
Cast:
Bruce Dern
Will Forte
Bob Odenkirk
June Squibb
Rated: R
Trailer

Alexander Payne returns in a great way with his new film “Nebraska,” which examines the dynamics of a family like his previous film, “The Descendants” did.

“Nebraska” picks up with the character Woody (Dern), an old man who believes he won $1 million and is trying to leave his home in Montana and get to where he can claim his prize in Nebraska. His wife, Kate (Squibb), is set against the trip, believing the prize to be a hoax. However, his son David (Forte), despite not fully believing that his father has won a prize, thinks that a road trip could do Woody some good.

The two set off on a trip that goes through the American heartland, but before getting to their destination, they end up stopping in Woody’s old town, where he meets with former friends and family he hasn’t seen in years.

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The Best Man Holiday review

Director:
Malcolm D. Lee
Cast:
Morris Chestnut
Taye Diggs
Terrence Howard
Monica Calhoun
Sanaa Lathan
Rated: R

So much drama in one movie.

Director Malcolm Lee helmed “The Best Man Holiday,” the sequel to his 1999 film “The Best Man.” The film starts with following the main character Harper (Diggs), an author who is having a case of writer’s block right around the time of the Christmas season. When the festive holiday finally arrives, Harper and his wife are invited for a big Christmas party weekend at the home of his former friend Lance (Chestnut).

The first movie revolved around the drama of Harper and Lance and Lance’s wife Mia (Calhoun) and it picks up again here. On top of that, are the many subplots surrounding the rest of the other friends of Lance and Mia’s who are invited to the party. From there, hi-jinx ensue.

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About Time review

Director:
Richard Curtis
Cast:
Domhnall Gleeson
Rachel McAdams
Bill Nighy
Rated: R

For once we have a time travel movie that isn’t all that confusing.

Tim (Gleeson) is the main character of “About Time.” On his 21st birthday, Tim finds out from his father (Nighy) that his family has the ability to travel backwards in time, but only during one persons life, not being able to travel to a time before the person was born.

Tim soon grasps the opportunities he has with the ability, and it helps him through life as he starts working as a lawyer in London. As time goes on, Tim also meets his true love in Mary (McAdams) and helps the relationship along with his power, however, as he does he learns that he can’t make everything perfect.

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12 Years a Slave review

Director:
Steve McQueen
Cast:
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Benedict Cumberbatch
Paul Giamatti
Michael Fassbender
Rated: R

Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” follows Solomon Northup (Ejiofor), a free black man living in the state of New York in the 1840s. Solomon is a professional violinist and lives comfortably with his family. This changes though when he takes a job in Washington D.C. and is captured by slave traders.

From there on out, Solomon suffers hardships as he is sold to different owners and witnesses and experiences multiple horrors.

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REVIEW: ‘Captain Phillips’

Oscar season is starting early this year as “Captain Phillips” will more than likely be nominated for an award or two.

“Phillips” is a dramatization that recreates the events of a ship hijacking that took place in Spring 2009. The movie follows the title character, Captain Richard Phillips, who is in command of the United States ship Maersk Alabama. During the time it was sailing near the coast of Africa, the ship was boarded by four armed Somali pirates and was taken over.

During the ordeal, Phillips was eventually taken hostage by the pirates in a lifeboat.

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Gravity review

Director:
Alfonso Cuaron
Cast:
Sandra Bullock
George Clooney
Ed Harris
Rated: PG-13

Like most kids growing up, I thought about the idea of becoming an astronaut, this movie makes me happy I never followed through with that.

“Gravity” takes place in the Earth’s orbit, following the story of a NASA shuttle crew doing repair work. The crew includes an engineer named Ryan (Bullock) and a veteran astronaut named Matt (Clooney).

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