There is a scene roughly halfway through Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 backstage masterpiece The Red Shoes where Ballet Russe impresario Lermontov comforts his understandably nervous principal dancer, Vicky Page. “Nothing matters by the music,” Lermontov assures her. He hums … Continue reading BABY DRIVER
Men, Women & Children is the latest movie from Jason Reitman, who garnered his fame with well-made, well-plotted, well-paced movies like Thank You For Smoking (2005), Juno (2007), and Up in the Air (2009). Following that impressive run, Reitman’s value dropped considerably with Young Adult (2011) and Labor Day (2013) – which was dumped into this year’s no-man’s land of January release — and now he besieges audiences with Men, Women & Children a movie that tries to set the problems of four suburban families against the backdrop of the cosmos. Set in current day Texas, Men, Women & Children … Continue reading MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN
Borgman – It starts with a bang: Borgman (Jan Bijvoet) is on the run because a group of heavily armed priests are hunting him down. They locate his lair, force him out and he escapes just barely. He then comes to a suburban family’s house and asks them for a bath. They turn him away. He returns as a gardener and they accept him into their home and lives. Big mistake. Taking place in modern-day Netherland, this morality tale is played out with some very high stakes. Co-starring Hadewych Minis, Jeroen Perceval, Sara Hjort Ditlevsen, Eva van de Wijdeven and … Continue reading Movie Beat – 06.06.14
2 Jacks – A modern and comic spin on a classic Leo Tolstoy story, “Two Hussars” set in Los Angeles. The Jacks are both movie directors, with the son following in the father’s footsteps whether he likes it or not. It’s a cutthroat business, this movie business, and it takes a cutthroat individual to make it happen. Danny Huston plays Jack Sr., Jack Huston is Jack Jr., Sienna Miller and Jacqueline Bisset play the girl, and Billy Zane and Rosie Fellner add to the cast. Bernard Rose directed and Breaking Glass Pictures gives this one a limited release. 12 … Continue reading Movie Beat – 10.18.13
