With a name like Into Darkness, one may be expecting more elements of evil and anarchy. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of rampant destruction aboard the latest Star Trek vehicle, but darkness does not seem to be the proper definition. The words “Into Darkness” could really be replaced by the words “sacrificial” and “loyalty”.

Won’t Back Down claims to be inspired by a true story. Barnz and co-writer Brin Hill seem to have taken some liberties with the words ‘inspired’ and ‘true story’ where no discernable case seems to serve as the inspiration behind this film.

In the prologue to Susan Lacy‘s American Masters special Inventing David Geffen, the man in question speaks about creating a life and an idea of success that he seems destined to achieve. And that he did, becoming one of the most successful show business moguls of the late 20th century and onwards.

Swamps, sweat, humidity and crime. Lee Daniels’ third directorial effort takes a curious look at Southern USA in the late 1960s. Adapted from Pete Dexter’s 1995 novel (with a screenplay from Dexter and Daniels), The Paperboy follows a small group of Southerners led by the recently returned teenager Jack Jensen (Zac Efron). Love-struck Charlotte Bless (Nicole Kidman) comes to Jack’s [...]

Visually alluring and breathtaking, Cloud Atlas is a triumphant piece of filmmaking that left me wanting more. Which is, after all, quite an impressive and rare feat for a film nearly three hours in length.

Amour begins with an audience awaiting a performance, mirroring its own audience staring back at its frames. Echoing moments of great auditorium scenes in films like Jarmusch‘s Stranger Than Paradise, Austrian writer and director Michael Haneke sets up an auspicious and yet strange opening. Sitting in the audience is Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) and her husband Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant), awaiting the [...]

This past weekend, Carlton’s beloved Cinema Nova held some special screenings of this year’s Academy Award nominated Animated and Live Action Shorts. Having been an avid watcher of the Oscars for years, the hardest categories have always been the Shorts. One large reason is not having access to all of the nominated pieces before the statues are handed out. When [...]

Despite its faithfulness, the story is dull and dreary, and neither Stoppard, Wright, nor the actors change the fact. The one exception is Matthew Macfadyen, whose comical and lively performance is a breath of fresh air amongst the turgid, boring love affair being played out before our eyes.

Daniel Day-Lewis has once again created another legendary performance, embodying Lincoln with tremendous grace and tenderness. Day-Lewis intensely inhabits the character most impressively with his voice, rarely raised above a calm and collected tone. Though no recordings of Lincoln’s voice existed – having died a short time before Edison’s phonograph was invented – it feels safe to say that Day-Lewis nails it.

Every cloud has a silver lining, or so the well-known idiom says. Schoolteacher Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper) is looking for his silver lining after being released from an eight-month stay at a psychiatric institution. He just has to find a strategy, something he repeats to his therapist continuously. Motivated to get his life back together, Pat plans reconciliation with his [...]