Category Archives: Newer films

Phantom Thread

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Mark DuPré

Phantom Thread is exquisite. That’s neither a compliment nor a criticism, but just a description. It follows the story of a 1950’s London fashion designer described early on in the film as “too fussy.” That’s one way of describing him. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Allison Janney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York, Inherent VIce, J. Alfred Prufrock, Judith Anderson, Laurie Metcalf, Lesley Manville, Mrs. Danvers, Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread, Pretty Woman, Radiohead, Rebecca, Reynolds Woodcock, The Master, There Will be Blood, Vicky Krieps | Leave a comment

Darkest Hour

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Mark DuPré

What I recently wrote about the 1961 film Two Women (https://film-prof.com/2017/12/31/two-women-1960-1961/) could just as easily applied to Darkest Hour—that the main point of interest was the central performance, but that the evolution of the director’s style was also worth noting. Darkest … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Anna Karenina, Atonement, Ben Mendelsohn, Best Actor, Christopher Nolan, Churchill's Secret, Cinderella, Clemmie Churchill, Darkest Hour, Downton Abbey, Dunkirk, Gary Oldman, Joe Wright, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Pip Torrens, Pride and Prejudice, Romola Garai, Samuel West, Stephen Dillane, The Crown, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Two Women, Winston Churchill, World War II | Leave a comment

Lady Bird

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Lady Bird, for those my age, has nothing to do with a former president’s wife. It’s the story of a high school girl, beautifully acted, focusing on her relationship with boys and with her mother, also beautifully acted. In some … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A Doll's House Part 2, Atonement, Brooklyn, Call Me By Your Name, Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird, Laurie Metcalf, Manchester by the Sea, Nicholas Hedges, Roseanne, Saoirse Ronan, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Timothée Chalamet | Leave a comment

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Mark DuPré

The film just received a slew of Golden Globe nominations, which is always both a compliment and something producing a mild guffaw to those familiar with the Globes’ history. But in this case, it seems the nominations are mostly deserved. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Caleb Landry Jones, deus ex machina, Fargo, Frances McDormand, Golden Globes, In Bruges, John Hawkes, Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea, Martin McDonagh, Peter Dinklage, Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Woody Harrelson, Zeljko Ivanek | Leave a comment

Quick Hits: Blade Runner 2049 and Thor: Ragnarok

Posted on November 25, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Blade Runner 2049 Both these films—but especially Blade Runner 2049—deserve much more analysis than I provide here. But the first has been written about endlessly, and contains enough filmic (and literary) references to support a doctoral thesis. Like its predecessor, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Arrival, Avengers, Blade Runner 2049, Cate Blanchett, Chris Hemsworth, Denis Villeneuve, Harrison Ford, Loki, No Country for Old Men, Roger Deakins, Ryan Gosling, Skyfall, Thor: Ragnarok, Tom Hiddleston, True Grit | Leave a comment

Concussion

Posted on October 30, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Concussion is a two-year-old film“based on” the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Pittsburgh pathologist who investigates the brain damage in former professional football players, and that is its main strength. His findings challenge the NFL to its core, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Albert Brooks, Bennet Omalu, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Concussion, CTW, Drive, Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House, NFL, Peter Landesman, Pittsburgh, Will Smith | Leave a comment

Fences

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Sometimes life, responsibilities, and priorities conspire to prevent me from seeing a film I “should” see in the theater. Such was the case with Fences, which was often my number two choice to see, and never managed to make it … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged August Wilson, Broadway, Denzel Washington, Doubt, Fences, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Pittsburgh Cycle, Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, Tony Awards, Viola Davis | Leave a comment

Victoria and Abdul

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Mark DuPré

The greatest service this new trifle from director Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen) offers is to put forth a cinematic version of a hitherto unknown story of Queen Victoria’s friendly relationship with a much younger Indian man. The real story … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Abdul Karim, Adeel Akhtar, Ali Fazal, Dame Judi Dench, Dangerous Liaisons, Eddie Izzard, Florence Foster Jenkins, Hindu, Michael Gambon, Mohammed, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Muslim, My Beautiful Laundrette, Philomena, Stephen Frears, The Grifters, The Queen, Tim Pigott-Smith, Victoria and Abdul | Leave a comment

The Lost City of Z

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Finally caught up with what many critics considered one of the great films—as well as one of the most unsung—of 2016, though it wasn’t released in the US until 2017. It was stunningly beautiful, slow but in the best sense, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged American Sniper, Charlie Hunnam, David Lean, Fifty Shades of Grey, James Gray, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Kristen Stewart, Percy Fawcett. The Immigrant, Robert Pattison, Sienna Miller, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Lost City of Z, Tom Holland, Twilight, We Own the Night | Leave a comment

The Salesman (Iranian, 2016)

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Mark DuPré

For MSM, “my Persian son” The Salesman is the newest film from Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi, creator and Oscar winner (for Best Foreign Film) for 2011’s A Separation. As with A Separation, The Saleman is a meticulously crafted, well-acted film … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A Separation, Arthur Miller, Asghar Farhadi, Babak Karimi, Best Foreign Film, Dardenne, Death of a Salesman, Deux jours une nuit, Hitchcock, L'Enfant, Shahab Hosseini, Shakespeare, Tareney Alidoosti, The Kid on the Bike, The Salesman | Leave a comment