The Spectacular Feature Sense & Sensibility is a Great Example of Using Big-Name Talent Right

Ang Lee is not content to do just one type of movie. The filmography of this Oscar-winning filmmaker spans all kinds of movies inhabiting a variety of genres and exploring different scopes of storytelling. Sometimes he goes small and intimate, other times he does sweeping visual effects heavy allegorical exercises and other times still he does a Marvel Comics superhero movie that explores the long-term effects of parental abuse. Ang Lee goes in such bold directions as a filmmaker that even a more lackluster film like Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk has individual elements one can admire. No wonder then that pairing this kind of filmmaker with a collection of top-notch British actors and one of the most acclaimed works by Jane Austen resulted in a truly special film.

The Mountain Between Us Is So Trite And Dull, It's Chilling

Rare is the trip by airplane that goes exactly as planned. You're bound to end up getting transferred to another flight or missing some piece of luggage or landing hours later than originally expected if you end up choosing this mode of transportation. Dr. Ben Bass (Idris Elba) and Alex Martin (Kate Winslet) were already facing the kind of mundane difficulties we all go through when trying to embark on a flight, namely being unable to get on flights they absolutely need to get on for extremely important personal events (Bass has a patient he has to perform surgery on while Martin is getting married the next day).

Collateral Beauty Aims To Be Uplifting And Ends Up Being Only Extremely Disturbing

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS ONLY IN THE SENSE THAT THE ACTUAL PLOT OF COLLATERAL BEAUTY, WHICH IS REVEALED SUPER EARLY ON IN THE MOVIE, HAS BEEN HIDDEN BY THE MARKETING.

I have no idea what was running through the minds behind the people in charge of the screenplay and initial concept for Collateral Beauty, but good Lord, but I can only assume they had some disturbing thoughts rattling around in their cranium that could only be worked out by way of writing up a script that dressed up its creepy and disturbing plot in the guise of an inspirational feel-good weepy drama. That's the only reasonable explanation I can concoct for what Collateral Beauty even exists, because if human beings actually thought this was gonna work as a straightforward inspirational drama, well, they're very optimistic, I'll give them that.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind Can Only Be Described As Beautiful, Profound And....Nice

A lot has happened in the past six months for me but perhaps one of the most formative things that have transpired is that my opinion of Jim Carrey as an actor has been completely altered by watching movies like I Love You, Phillip Morris, The Truman Show and now Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind for the first time. Carrey is a truly talented individual with an incredible amount of range and I'd wager no other motion picture (despite Morris and Truman Show containing some top-notch work from Carrey) so eloquently shows off the level of talent Carrey is capable of commanding as Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, a 2004 Michel Gondry effort that's really...well, something else.

Steve Jobs Review

Now that I'm juuust old enough to put my younger years into a larger context, it strikes me that 2010 may have been one of the most formative cinematic years of my entire life. That specific period of 365 days brought out a number of important films that shaped me, including Toy Story 3, The Other Guys and the first Coen Brothers, Christopher Nolan and Edgar Wright films I saw on the big screen (hell, I could ramble on for hours on the personal importance of just Scott Pilgrim vs. The World!). Another film from that year that has cemented itself in my subconscious? The Social Network.

Revolutionary Road Review (Classic Write-Up)

Road To Nowhere

Who among us hasn't had the desire to escape conventionality for an existence riddled with unpredictability? It's a common ailment that is examined at length in Revolutionary Road, a 2008 feature from Sam Mendes that utilizes the 1950's as a way to examine how that compulsion to subvert our daily routine can consume ones soul. Coming right off of the horrors and uncertainty of events like World War II in the 1940's, the 1950's were an age where people looked for consistency and peace in their lives. While it's not like archetypes such as "stay at home mom" or "Father knows best" didn't exist prior to the fifties, they did rise to extreme prominence in this decade to the point of being considered the only way of executing a standard family lifestyle.

The Divergent Series: Insurgent Review

To Live And Divergent In LA

In the year since Divergent was released, so much has changed for the cast. Shailiene Woodley (along with Divergent co-star Ansel Elgort) dazzle in The Fault In Our Stars, Miles Teller starred in one of the best movies of the past few years, Whiplash, and Theo James did.....uh, I think he signed on to star in a reboot of the Underworld movies. Simply put, these guys have done some great work since the first Divergent film, which makes seeing them return to this franchise disappointing, especially considering how lackluster it is.