Both Marielle Heller and Tom Hanks Bring Their A-Game For A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Though he's plastered all over the marketing, Tom Hanks' Fred Rogers is not the lead character of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Rogers is certainly a pivotal part of the movie and the visual trappings of his children's television show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, are also reflected throughout the production as well. But those expecting this Marielle Heller directorial effort to be a traditional movie biopic about Fred Rogers or any other kind of film exclusively focusing on this man will be disappointed. Heller and writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster have concocted something much more unique for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood that may not put Fred Rogers center-stage but certainly is influenced by the man and especially his worldview.

Breach Starts Out Rough Before Finding A More Comfortable Suspenseful Groove

Eventually, the 2007 thriller Breach gets pretty darn good, but you gotta wade through a pretty weak first act to get there. But once it actually gets into a groove that writer/director Billy Ray (the guy behind last years better than expected military drama Thank You For Your Service) seems more comfortable with, Breach finally becomes something more akin to (though not as wholly successful as) the suspenseful political thrillers of the 1970's it's clearly mimicking. Like that subgenre of American cinema, Breach is based on a true story of corrupt American politics, specifically the saga of Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper), an intellegence officer at the FBI that is being secretly spied on by Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe).

Cars 3 Delivers A Shocking Amount Of Emotionally Engaging, If Sometimes Formulaic, Storytelling

In many ways, Cars 3 feels like a companion piece to last summer's PIXAR movie, Finding Dory. Not only are both sequels but they arrive in an era of PIXAR's filmography so heavily dominated by sequels it's become understandable to question whether the more bold storytelling instincts the studio was relying on for its first 15 years of existence have escaped them (though Inside Out is the kind of masterpiece demonstrating how good this studio can be when it really swings for the fences). Cars 3, even moreso than Finding Dory (whose predecessor never really spawned much in the way of merchandise) is mostly a gamble to create toys and assorted paraphernalia that these Cars movies have become most noteworthy for.

Adaptation Review (Classic Write-Up)

Adaptation Is The Sincerest Form of Flattery

A meta approach to a film or TV show or any piece of media is not uncommon, but it is unique for it to be embraced as heartily as it is by Adaptation, a 2002 Spike Jonze directed feature that goes absolutely all in when it comes to utilizing this style of storytelling. How exactly does the movie engage in a meta narrative you ask? Why, by focusing on an exaggerated version of the films screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage). 

Classic Write-Up: The Town Review

Don't Rob Yourself Of This Fantastic Film

Ben Afflecks recent resurgence in popularity can be attributed more to directorial projects like Argo (one of my favorite movies from recent years) and his 2010 feature The Town. If Argo is undeniably his quintessential movie, filled with top-notch filmmaking in every regard, then The Town at times feels like a warm-up session for that 2012 Best Picture winner. Affleck is dipping his toes into staging larger sequences of action, and while it's not quite perfect, I can honestly say I was amazed at how fantastic The Town was on its own merits.