Tag: film

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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Top 10 Worst Movies of 2015

10. Insurgent
The first “Divergent” was mediocre at best. It’s direct sequel doesn’t even reach that level, though, as “Insurgent” came off as a complete mess. Despite lead actress Shailene Woodley’s best attempts, her dialogue remains weak and the story structure is terrible. Additionally, co-star Theo James is lifeless on screen and Academy Award winner Kate Winslet is wasted in the role of an ineffectual villain.

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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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Sisters review

Director:

  • Jason Moore

Cast:

  • Amy Poehler
  • Tina Fey
  • Maya Rudolph
  • Ike Barinholtz
  • John Leguizamo
  • Rated: R

Like the title says, in this movie Amy Poehler and Tina Fey play two sisters, Maura and Kate, who are each going through struggles in their own lives. At the onset of the movie, they are given another issue to deal with when they find out their parents are selling their childhood home.

When the siblings are tasked with taking care of the house for a weekend before it’s sold, though, they decide to have one last hurrah with a crazy party. As usual with party movies, insanity ensues.

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens review

Director:

  • J.J. Abrams

Cast:

  • Daisy Ridley
  • Oscar Isaac
  • John Boyega
  • Adam Driver
  • Domhnal Gleeson
  • Mark Hamill
  • Carrie Fisher
  • Harrison Ford
  • Rated: PG-13

“The Force Awakens” returns audiences to the tales of a galaxy far far away. The movie picks up about 30 years after “Return of the Jedi,” with the remnants of the Empire now grouped into a faction called the New Order and the Rebels which have become the Resistance.

The film’s story is set in motion by a chance encounter between a resistance pilot named Poe (Isaac), who is trying to preserve a map that leads to Luke Skywalker, and a stormtrooper leaving the First Order named Finn (Boyega). Through a series of events (no spoilers), Finn winds up meeting a ship-parts scavenger and the two are forced to team up and bring the map to the resistance.

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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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