Category Archives: Film Reviews

Film reviews and analyses. Most recently published is in front.

Still Alice

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Mark DuPré

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 →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Alec Baldwin, Annie Hall, Blue Jasmine, Colin Firth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Eddie Redmayne, Julianne Moore, Kate Bosworth, Kristin Stewart, My Left Foot, Nine Months, Philadelphia, Still Alice, The Hunger Games, The King's Speech, The Lost Weekend, The Snake Pit, The Theory of Everything, Woody Allen | 2 Comments

Selma

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Mark DuPré

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 →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged American Sniper, Angelina Jolie, Ava DuVernay, Carmen Ejogo, Coretta King, Cuba Gooding Jr., David Oyelolo, Dr. King, George Wallace, J. Edgar Hoover, Martin Sheen, Oprah, Oscar, Selma, Steve Carell, Voting Rights Act | Leave a comment

American Sniper

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Mark DuPré

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 →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged American Sniper, Bradley Cooper, Clint Eastwood, Sandra Bullock, Sienna Miller, The Blind Side, The Green Berets, The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty | Leave a comment

Unbroken

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Mark DuPré

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 →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Angelina Jolie, Billy Graham, Gone with the Wind, Jack O'Connor, Louis Zamperini, POW, Roger Deakins, Unbroken | Leave a comment

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

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Mark DuPré

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 →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Ben Kingsley, Charlton Heston, Christian Bale, DeMille, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Joel Edgerton, Mel Gibson, Moses, Noah, Pharoah, Ramses, Ridley Scott, Sigourney Weaver, Terminators, The Passion of the Christ, The Ten Commandments | Leave a comment

Big Eyes

Posted on January 10, 2015 by Mark DuPré

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 →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Amy Adams, Big Eyes, Christoph Waltz, Margaret Keane, Tim Burton, Walter Keane | Leave a comment

Foxcatcher

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Mark DuPré

Foxcatcher is disturbing almost from the first moment, and never stops being so. Directed by Bennett Miller (Capote, Moneyball) and only his third feature-length film, it seems the director is attracted to true stories (his other two major films are … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Bennett Miller, Bourne, Brad Pitt, Capote, Captain Phillips, Catherine Keener, Channing Tatum, David Schultz, Foxcatcher, John E. du Pont, Jonah Hill, Mark Ruffalo, Mark Schultz, Moneyball, Paul Greengrass, Steve Carell, Vanessa Redgrave | Leave a comment

The Imitation Game

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Mark DuPré

The Imitation Game is lovely to look at, features two excellent performances and several good ones, and is something of a mess. That’s not all the film’s fault, as Alan Turing’s life doesn’t fall easily into a three-act structure. Turing … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged 12 Years a Slave, A.O. Scott, Alan Turing, Allen Leech, Atonement, August: Osage County, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bleak House, Bletchley Park, Charles Dance, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Hobbit, Joan Clark, Keira Knightley, Lincoln, New York Times, Pride and Prejudice, Selma, Sherlock, Smaug, The Imitation Game | Leave a comment

Into the Woods

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Mark DuPré

The long-awaited film adaptation of Steven Sondheim’s and James Lapine’s Into the Woods has been released, and most of the fears of Disney being involved have thankfully been proven needless. For many, Sondheim is an acquired taste, and that will … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged "Agony", Anna Kendrick, Billy Magnussen, Chicago, Daniel Huddlestone, Disney, Disneyfied, Emily Blunt, Into the Woods, James Corden, James Lapine, Johnny Depp, Lilla Crawford, Mamma Mia!, Meryl Streep, Postcards from the Edge, Robert Marshall, Stephen Sondheim | 1 Comment

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Mark DuPré

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (hereafter referred to as Hobbit 3), was always going to be a big hit. Those who supported the first two-thirds of the trilogy had to see how it was all going to … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Ian McKellan, Legolas, Lord of the Rings, Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Peter Jackson, Richard Armitage, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Thorin | Leave a comment