Category Archives: Newer films

Woman in Gold

Woman in Gold, starring the legendary Helen Mirren, is a great story and a so-so film. It’s based on the true account of a famous Austrian painting seized illegally and immorally by the Nazis from its rightful owner, and the … Continue reading

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Do You Believe?

Do You Believe? is uneven, bumpy, and at times simply unbelievable. It’s also the best Hollywood-style “Christian” movie of its type. The acting, while uneven, is a huge step above the norm. Its cinematography, too, is by far the best … Continue reading

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Whiplash

Saw the triple-Oscar winner a couple of weeks ago. The film is about a young and talented drummer and his teacher at a Julliard-like arts school who puts him through the ringer personally and musically. The two technical awards were … Continue reading

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The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Second Exotic Marigold Hotel is the first film I’ve written about where I have to throw my hands up and declare it officially critic-proof. Not that I couldn’t sit back and analyze it from several different perspectives. It doesn’t … Continue reading

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Still Alice

Still Alice is practically an afterthought at this point, and will likely only be remembered as the film that finally brought Julianne Moore her first Oscar (she won as Best Actress earlier this year) after a number of nominations. And … Continue reading

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Selma

Selma is the companion piece to American Sniper in terms of being a Rorschach test for America in early 2015. Those loving neat categories would place Selma on the left and American Sniper on the right, and might find some … Continue reading

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American Sniper

Titus 1:15 To the pure, all things are pure… To this Biblical passage I add, “to the political, all things are political.” This goes for film critics as well as politicians, and that has posed a few problems in covering … Continue reading

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Unbroken

Analyzing Unbroken so far after its release, and the day that the Oscar nominations came out, makes this a different kind of analysis: Unbroken is a great sophomore effort by a young director with limited directorial experience. She happens to … Continue reading

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An open letter to the creators of Exodus: Gods and Kings

Note: Normally, I write a critique of a film in the standard way. After viewing Exodus: Gods and Kings, I felt a note to the director, screenwriters and producers of the film seemed more in order. Dear Mr. Scott, Myriad … Continue reading

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Big Eyes

When we talk about “story” in my film class, we often talk about how much it means to American moviegoers and how little it can mean to filmgoers from other cultures. Many students come into class professing that their sole … Continue reading

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