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Monday, January 23, 2012
Film / Film News / Film Reviews Universal celebration gets off the ground with To Kill a Mockingbird
Posted By Matt Brunson on Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at 4:22 PM
- Universal
- Gregory Peck and Brock Peters in To Kill a Mockingbird
By Matt Brunson
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
****
DIRECTED BY Robert Mulligan
STARS Gregory Peck, Mary Badham
Forget James Bond and Indiana Jones: When the American Film Institute offered its picks of the top movie heroes in its 100 Greatest Heroes and Villains special in 2003, it was Atticus Finch, the soft-spoken protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird, who emerged at the top of the list. It was a fitting tribute not only to the memorable character created by Harper Lee in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel but also to the actor who played him: Gregory Peck, who passed away nine days after the AFI's picks were revealed.
Peck's performance is the bedrock of this classic film, one of those rare instances when a movie perfectly captured the essence of its source material without compromising it in any way. One of the best films ever made about children and the unique way in which they view the world around them, this also benefits from the perceptive work by Mary Badham as Scout, Atticus' young daughter who learns about justice and integrity by watching her lawyer dad defend a black man (Brock Peters) against fraudulent rape charges in a small Southern town.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Film / Film Reviews Friday Film Reviews: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close; Shame; Contraband
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 4:41 PM
- Fox Searchlight
- Shame
Click on the link to be taken directly to the review.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Film / Film Reviews Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune sings tale of political disillusionment
Posted By Mark Kemp on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 10:00 AM
- First Run Features
- Phil Ochs (Los Angeles, 1968), as seen in Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
By Mark Kemp
PHIL OCHS: THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE
***1/2
DIRECTED BY Kenneth Bowser
STARS Phil Ochs, Sean Penn, Christopher Hitchens, Joan Baez, Tom Hayden
In the liner notes to his 1965 album I Ain’t Marching Anymore, the late protest singer Phil Ochs addressed the emotional dichotomy of ego and responsibility, of his simultaneous desire for fame and his need to write and sing morally charged folk songs critical of a world gone mad.
“My vanity flutters as I hear again the cheers of audiences of thousands applauding …,” Ochs wrote, but then went on to say, “I realize that I can’t feel any nobility for what I write because I know my life could never be as moral as my songs.”
That psychic push and pull ruled Ochs’ fascinating and utterly complex life, a life that until now has never been fully explored onscreen. With Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune, filmmaker Ken Bowser rectifies this glaring omission in a documentary that covers it all, from the righteous, leftist, and very patriotic ballads and anthems Ochs sang at demonstrations and on college campuses, to the mental issues that hastened his alcoholism and ultimate suicide in 1976 at only 35 years old. The film premieres on PBS's American Masters at 10 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, on WTVI in the Charlotte area.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Film / Film Reviews Friday Film Reviews: The Iron Lady; Carnage
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 4:33 PM
- The Weinstein Co.
- The Iron Lady
Click on the link to be taken directly to the review.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Film / Film Reviews Friday Film Reviews
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Dec 30, 2011 at 11:00 AM
- Columbia
- Christopher Plummer and Daniel Craig in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
No new films are opening locally over the New Year's weekend. However, here are links to reviews of some of the major movies released during the year-end holiday season.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol
Friday, December 23, 2011
Film / Film Reviews Friday Film Reviews: War Horse; We Bought a Zoo
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 11:00 AM
Friday, December 16, 2011
Film / Film Reviews Friday Film Reviews: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; The Adventures of Tintin; Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows; Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol; Young Adult
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 5:22 PM
- Warner Bros.
- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Click on the title to be taken directly to the review.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Friday, December 9, 2011
Film / Film Reviews New Year's Eve drops the ball
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 3:21 PM
- Andrew Schwartz / Warner Bros.
- BELLY UP: Seth Meyers and Jessica Biel in New Year's Eve
By Matt Brunson
NEW YEAR’S EVE
*1/2
DIRECTED BY Garry Marshall
STARS Robert De Niro, Halle Berry
Forget counting down from 10 as the ball drops in Times Square; here instead is a countdown of the 10 key points in New Year’s Eve, which proves to be even tougher to take than director Garry Marshall’s previous all-star holiday romp, Valentine’s Day.
10. A cocky messenger boy (Zac Efron) helps a depressed woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) fulfill her New Year’s resolutions. Although it squanders any intriguing potential for a May-December romance, this is the best episode primarily thanks to Pfeiffer, the only person in this entire film investing any genuine emotion into her character.
9. The woman (Hilary Swank) tasked with making sure the Times Square ball drops properly calls upon a veteran technician (Hector Elizondo) to fix the orb when it breaks down mere hours before midnight. Swank and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges (as a friendly cop) are as appealing as always, and Marshall regular Elizondo contributes a couple of chuckles, but this vignette is especially devoid of drama.
8. A man (Josh Duhamel) who has a one-year-anniversary date with one of the other characters — they met last New Year’s Eve — is afraid he won’t make the reunion since he’s stuck out in the boondocks (Larry Miller makes a welcome appearance as a tow truck driver). I won’t reveal the identity of Duhamel’s mystery date, but let’s just say I was disappointed it wasn’t Elizondo’s character — that at least would get a rise out of the Middle America mentalities that this sort of pandering nonsense targets.
7. A harried mother (Sarah Jessica Parker) won’t let her 15-year-old daughter (Abigail Breslin, now old enough to play a character who packs on the makeup) hang out in Times Square for fear that something horrible might happen to her. Like appearing in this film?
Friday, December 2, 2011
Film / Film Reviews Friday Film Reviews
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 12:36 PM
- Paramount
- Hugo
With no new movies opening this week in Charlotte, here's a roundup of recent releases. Click on the link to be taken directly to the review.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Film / Film Reviews Wednesday Film Reviews: The Muppets; Hugo; The Descendants; Arthur Christmas
Posted By Matt Brunson on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 at 3:44 PM
- The Muppets
- Disney
Click on the link to be taken directly to the title.
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