Category Archives: Newer films

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Mark DuPré

In one of the few moments of suspense in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 1 (which should win most awkward movie title of the year), Finnick (Sam Claflin) speaks and speaks and speaks to mark time and distract folks from an … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Captain Phillips, Elizabeth Banks, Francis Lawrence, Jeffrey Wright, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore, Liam Hemsworth, Paul Greengrass, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Stanley Tucci, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, United 93 | Leave a comment

Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (AKA, Birdman)

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Mark DuPré

I show Annie Hall in my film class sometimes, and one thing I point out about its many virtues and ground-breaking elements is how Woody Allen brought the rhythms of stand-up comedy not only into the humor of the film, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged 12 Years a Slave, 21 Grams, Alejandro Iñárritu, Amy Ryan, Andrea Riseborough, Babel, Birdman, Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, Biutiful, Edward Norton, Emmanuel Lubezki, jazz, Michael Keaton, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis | Leave a comment

The Theory of Everything

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Mark DuPré

The Theory of Everything is likely to be the “adult, intelligent, emotional” film of the season, at least until Unbroken opens on Christmas. It’s well produced, very well acted, and brushes up against the idea of great intelligence while not … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A Beautiful Mind, Benoit Delhomme, Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Iris, James Marsh, Jane Hawking, Lawless, Les Miserables, My Left Foot, My Week with Marilyn, Stephen Hawking, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Theory of Everything | Leave a comment

Interstellar

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Mark DuPré

I haven’t seen plain old Interstellar yet. But I did attend Interstellar: The Imax Experience, which is likely a different animal than the non-Imax version. Seeing—and hearing—the film in this format was as close to sampling Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk as I … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Anne Hathaway, Christopher Nolan, Dallas Buyers Club, Hans Zimmer, Imax, Interstellar, Jessica Chastain, John Lithgow, Mackenzie Foy, Matthew McConaughey | Leave a comment

Nightcrawler

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Mark DuPré

Nightcrawler is a lean, mean, indie-feeling film that purports to show the “sordid underbelly” of television news-footage gathering, and we assume, by extension, the sordid underbelly of, uh, something bigger. While it uses the topic of gathering video footage as … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Bill Paxton, Dan Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed | Leave a comment

Gone Girl

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Mark DuPré

Director David Fincher has made his Vertigo—a multi-layered, beautifully (and carefully) directed with a gorgeous blonde at the center, with layers of twisty plot turns and double crosses, complete with manipulation, identity issues and obsession. Gone Girl is probably the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Ben Affleck, Carrie Coon, David Fincher, Fight Club, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hollywoodland, How I Met Your Mother, Jeff Cronenweth, Kim Dickens, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Fugit, Rosamund Pike, The Social Network, Tyler Perry, Vertigo | Leave a comment

The Hundred-Foot Journey

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Mark DuPré

The Hundred-Foot Journey has won one major award so far—director Lasse Hallström the Audience Award at the Norwegian International Film Festival. That makes sense. It’s a mildly enjoyable paint-by numbers film, directed with a certain professional panache from the director … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Helen Mirren, Lasse Halstrom, Manish Dayal, Om Puri, The Hundred-Foot Journey, The Queen | Leave a comment

Heaven is for Real: A Matter of Resonance

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Mark DuPré

Finally saw Heaven is for Real on DVD, and was quite pleasantly surprised. As a film person, I approach the viewing of most films with enthusiasm, looking to find something of worth in even the worst films. As a Christian, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged 12 Years a Slave, Christian, Colton Burpo, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Greg Kinnear, Heaven is for Real, Kelly Reilly, Margo Martindale, preacher, Thomas Haden Church, Todd Burpo | Leave a comment

Boyhood

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Mark DuPré

In film class in college, we learned the difference between narrative and spectacle. Narrative, of course, was the story. Spectacle was, well, the songs and dances, or the special effects that dazzled, or the great set pieces like fights or … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Boyhood, Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, Marco Perella, Patricia Arquette, Richard Linklater | Leave a comment

Guardians of the Galaxy

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Mark DuPré

Guardians of the Galaxy resembles one of those cloth dolls stitched together by someone who has the necessary pieces and a general idea of how to put them together. The result is something fun that fulfills its function, but upon … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel, Star Wars, Zoe Saldana | Leave a comment