Category: Film Reviews

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Rating Director Tim Burton Screenplay John Logan (Musical: Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Wheeler; Play: Christopher Bond) Length 116 min. Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Laura Michelle Kelly, Jayne Wisener, Ed Sanders MPAA Rating R (For graphic bloody…

National Treasure: Book of Secrets Rating Director Jon Turtletaub Screenplay The Wibberleys (Cormac & Marianne), Gregory Poirier, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio Length 124 min. Starring Nicolas Cage, Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris, Harvey Keitel, Bruce Greenwood, Ty Burrell, Michael Maize, Timothy V. Murphy MPAA Rating PG (for some violence and…

The Lookout Rating Director Scott Frank Screenplay Scott Frank Length 99 min. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode, Isla Fisher, Carla Gugino, Bruce McGill, Alberta Watson, Alex Borstein, Sergio Di Zio, David Huband MPAA Rating R (for language, some violence and sexual content) Buy/Rent Movie Poster Review The screenwriter of Out of Sight has…

Away from Her Rating Director Sarah Polley Screenplay Sarah Polley (Short Story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” by Alice Munro) Length 110 min. Starring Gordon Pinsent, Julie Christie, Olympia Dukakis, Stacey LaBerge, Deanna Dezmari, Clare Coulter, Thomas Hauff, Alberta Watson MPAA Rating PG-13 Buy/Rent Movie Poster Source Material Review An achingly tender portrait of…

Once Rating Director John Carney Screenplay John Carney Length 85 min. Starring Glen Hansard, Markta Irglov, Alaistair Foley, Kaet Haugh, Senan Haugh, Gerard Hendrick, Bill Hodnett, Danuse Ktrestova, Geoff Minogue, Hugh Walsh Mal Whyte MPAA Rating R (for language) Buy/Rent Movie Soundtrack Poster Review One of the year’s best musicals hardly feels like one. Once…

Waitress Rating Director Adrienne Shelly Screenplay Adrienne Shelly Length 108 min. Starring Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith, Adrienne Shelly, Eddie Jemison, Lew Temple MPAA Rating PG-13 (for sexual content, language and thematic elements) Buy/Rent Movie Poster Review A gifted pie maker dreams of what her life might be like if…

Juno Rating Director Jason Reitman Screenplay Diablo Cody Length 92 min. Starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons, Olivia Thirlby MPAA Rating PG-13 (for mature thematic material, sexual content and language) Buy/Rent Movie Soundtrack Poster Review A film sometimes too precious for its own good, Juno turns a girl’s…

There Will Be Blood Rating Director Paul Thomas Anderson Screenplay Paul Thomas Anderson (Novel: Oil! by Upton Sinclair) Length 158 min. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Kevin J. O’Connor, Ciaran Hinds, Dillon Freasier, Barry Del Sherman, Russell Harvard, Harrison Taylor, Stockton Taylor, Paul F. Tompkins, Paul Dano, Sydney McCallister, David Willis, Christine Oleiniczak, Kellie Hill, James Downey,…

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead Rating Director Sidney Lumet Screenplay Kelly Masterson Length 117 min. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei, Rosemary Harris, Aleksa Palladino, Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan, Brian F. O’Byrne, Blaine Horton, Arija Bareikis, Leonardo Cimino, Lee Wilkof MPAA Rating R (for a scene of strong graphic sexuality,…

The Best    |    The Worst    |    The Individual Best The Best Every time I hear someone referring to this year or that year as the “worst this decade” or “the most dismal year in film history”, I wonder how they measure a great year versus a bad year. Did they not give out enough four-star…

The Best    |    The Worst    |    The Individual Best The Best 2007 started out as perhaps one of the worst film years in some time. Only Bridge to Terabithia managed to earn a 4-star rating until the very end of the year when I finally saw Away from Her. It snowballed in the last two…

Lust, Caution Rating Director Ang Lee Screenplay James Schamus, Hui-Ling Wang (Story: Eileen Chang) Length 157 min. Starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Wei Tang, Joan Chen, Lee-Hom Wang, Chung Hua Tou Chih-ying Chu, Ying-hsien Kao, Yue-Lin Ko, Johnson Yuen, Kar Lok Chin, Su Yan, Caifei He, Rubui Song, Anupam Kher, Liu Jie, Hui-Ling Wang MPAA…

Atonement Rating Director Joe Wright Screenplay Christopher Hampton (Novel: Ian McEwan) Length 130 min. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Brenda Blethyn, James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Juno Temple, Romola Garai, Gina McKee, Anthony Minghella, Vanessa Redgrave, Jeremie Renier MPAA Rating R (for disturbing war images, language and some sexuality) Buy/Rent Movie Soundtrack Poster Source Material Review Love stories…

Reservation Road Rating Director Terry George Screenplay Terry George, John Burnham Schwartz (Novel: John Burnham Schwartz) Length 102 min. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Elle Fanning, Jennifer Connelly, Mark Ruffalo, Eddie Alderson, Sean Curley, Cordell Clyde Lochin, Antoni Corone, Mira Sorvino, Gary Kohn, John Slattery, Nora Ferrari MPAA Rating R Buy/Rent Movie Soundtrack Poster Source Material Review…

Enchanted Rating Director Kevin Lima Screenplay Bill Kelly Length 107 min. Starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Susan Sarandon, Rachel Covey, Jeff Bennett, Kevin Lima MPAA Rating PG (for some scary images and mild innuendo) Buy/Rent Movie Soundtrack Poster Review The Walt Disney Corporation has tried for years to create…