Tag: Period Piece

REVIEW: Visually stunning ‘Train Dreams’ fails to fully connect

“Train Dreams” is a film that, in theory, should be one a viewer can fully embrace. In practice, though, it’s another story.

Speaking of story, the one at play here revolves around Robert (Joel Edgerton). A laborer in Idaho, Robert finds himself getting work in the timber and railroad industries starting in the 1910s. It’s around this time he also meets Gladys (Felicity Jones), who he begins a relationship with and later marries.

The film follows his time at home, as he builds a life with Gladys and the two have a child. The audience also gets to see his days at work, where he meets others from across the country who’ve come to the forested terrain to earn a living.

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REVIEW: Latest ‘Nuremberg’ dramatization intrigues, but lacks focus

The decisive court cases to close World War II’s final chapter have once again been dramatized, but the latest isn’t quite as strong as previous pieces of media.

The latest WW2 period piece takes place during most of the Nuremberg Military Tribunals after Germany’s defeat, with a focus on one of two main mental health professionals present during the process. That individual is Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), a psychiatrist who spoke with the remnants of Third Reich who were imprisoned during the trial.

His most notable conversations were with Herman Goring (Russell Crowe), second in command to Adolf Hitler. As the film goes on, the discussions and analysis become more important as U.S. Justice Robert Jackson (Michael Shannon), the American lead prosecutor, prepares his case. Continue reading “REVIEW: Latest ‘Nuremberg’ dramatization intrigues, but lacks focus”

REVIEW: Strong emotional core, vampiric thrills power ‘Sinners’

What if “From Dusk Till Dawn” took place in the Great Depression?

That’s sort of what we have here in this new vampire thriller from writer and director Ryan Coogler. A period piece, “Sinners” is set in 1932 and takes place in the Mississippi Delta region. The movie stars Michael B. Jordan in dual roles, playing twin brothers Elijah and Elias Moore.

After making money as part of Al Capone’s Chicago mafia, they’ve returned to their roots to open a Juke Joint. The duo bring in family and friends to help run the venue and it turns out to be a success. In fact it’s such a success that it attracts a group of vampires.

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REVIEW: Angelina Jolie is at her absolute best in ‘Maria’

For the third time in a decade, director Pablo Larraín has helmed a biographical film about a complex woman, and like the other two, it’s one of the year’s best.

Larraín previously directed 2016’s “Jackie” about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and 2021’s “Spencer” which centered on Princess Diana. His latest is about the opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie), though it takes place mainly after her illustrious career.

The movie focuses on the last week of the singer’s life, and explores how she was reflective of a career that she lost. Over time, her voice began to fail her, which caused her to leave her profession, and later her health began declining as well. The film is about the culmination of this, with her still at times trying to sing, while looking at the past and dealing with health issues.

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REVIEW: ‘The Piano Lesson’ is a well-acted but imperfect adaptation

As someone not familiar with the source material, I can’t say I at all expected a ghostly haunting in this period piece drama.

Based on a 1987 stage play with the same name, “The Piano Lesson” centers on the Charles family. John David Washington stars as Boy Willie Charles, a young man from Mississippi who’s traveled to Pittsburgh to pick up his family’s piano and sell it. His goal is to use the money to purchase the farm where his ancestors were enslaved and have his own land.

His sister Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler), though, is opposed to the sale, noting its importance to their family’s legacy and history. The two remain at odds through the film, and as tensions rise, eerie things start happening.

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REVIEW: Filming method makes ‘Nickel Boys’ a let down

Maybe RaMell Ross films just aren’t my thing.

After helming the Academy Award-nominated documentary “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” in 2018, Ross has directed a narrative feature. His latest film, “Nickel Boys,” is an adaptation of a book with the same name that itself was inspired by a real reform school.

Set in the 1960s, “Nickel Boys” centers on two black teen boys, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson). Both from different backgrounds, each boy finds themselves brought to a rough reform school called Nickel Academy. There the two become friends and try to make it through the system.  

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REVIEW: ‘The Brutalist’ is a monumental film about the American dream

You know those expectation Vs. reality memes? Well, the two halves of this movie is kind of like that in relation to the immigrant experience in America.

This movie is just a tad bit more complex than a meme, though. “The Brutalist” is an epic three-and-a-half-hour character study about an architect, László Tóth (Adrien Brody), who arrives in the U.S. from Hungary just after World War II.

A Holocaust survivor, Tóth comes to America with hopes of a new start for him and his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), who is still in Europe. Eventually, Tóth gets an opportunity to put his experience in architecture to work. However, he learns over time that there are new hardships in the States he has to face.

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REVIEW: While not Guadagnino’s best, ‘Queer’ is a quality drama

Luca Guadagnino has helmed several well-made romantic dramas over the last few years, and now adds one more to the growing list.

Like other pictures he’s done, Guadagnino’s latest, “Queer,” is inspired by a book. The novel in this case has the same name and is a semi-autobiographical piece by American author William S. Burroughs. In the film, the author is the inspiration for the lead character William Lee (Daniel Craig).

William is a man residing in Mexico City during the 1950s and lives a life of addiction. He is an alcoholic, a heroin user and seeks casual sex regularly. It’s clear he’s looking for some sort of fulfillment in his life, and he may just find it in a new relationship he begins with another man, Eugene (Drew Starkey) early in the film.

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REVIEW: ‘September 5’ fires on nearly every cylinder

Two decades after playing the editor of a print outlet in 2003’s “Shattered Glass,” Peter Sarsgaard has returned to journalism cinema, now leading a broadcast team.

Like the aforementioned film, Sarsgaard plays a real-life figure here, this time Roone Arledge. News isn’t Arledge’s first focus, though, as his main priority is helming ABC Sports’ coverage of the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Arledge and control room producer Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) are forced to take up the news mantle, though, as the 1972 terrorist attack begins to unfold. Over the course of the next several hours, the ABC team has to adjust and adapt on the fly to cover the increasingly dangerous situation.

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REVIEW: ‘Gladiator II’ retreads familiar ground, but has great action

Once again, I am entertained by a “Gladiator,” Maybe not as moved, though.

“Gladiator II” is set 16 years after the original film from 2000 concluded. Rome is now ruled by a corrupt pair of twins who have let the city state fall into a mess as they enjoy luxuries made possible by ongoing expansion of their empire.

Meanwhile, a warrior, Hanno (Paul Mescal) is captured while fighting for his city in North Africa from a successful Roman invasion. After losing his wife in the battle, he sets his sights on revenge against a Roman general, and gets an opportunity to do so by fighting his way through the Gladiator system.

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