Tag: Anthony Hopkins

Reviews

THOR: RAGNAROK

Michael J. Casey

The God of Thunder returns and he’s bringing the pyrotechnics to Marvel’s latest installment of sound and fury. Thor: Ragnorak, the 17th installment in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, continues the latest trend of Marvel movies: irreverent humor, ironic heroes, and plenty of neon razzle-dazzle. And while these tricks entertain — and Thor is generally a good time — none of the frosting helps Marvel’s ongoing issues with bloated storylines, uncompelling villains, and bland third act battles. Picking up sometime after the events in Doctor Strange and opening in a Norse underworld, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) battles a hoard of demons led by Sutur, … Continue reading THOR: RAGNAROK

Movie Beat

Movie Beat – 03.28.14

Michael J. Casey

5 Hour Friends – Timothy (Tom Sizemore) loves to golf. If he could, he would spend every waking moment of every day golfing. But life is not that simple, so Timothy has to do other things, such as work (occasionally), deal with his ex-wife (only when necessary), send money to his son (when he has any), drink (all the time) and pick up women to keep him company. Life is one big juggling act for Timothy, and he has mastered the trick. Kimberlin Brown, Musetta Vander, Dan Hewitt Owens and Leilani Sarelle co-star in this low-budget look at a man … Continue reading Movie Beat – 03.28.14

Movie Beat

Movie Beat – 11.08.13

Michael J. Casey

The Armstrong Lie – “Sure I cheated. BUT, I didn’t cheat that one time, and I want credit for it.” Seems like a silly argument to take, but Lance Armstrong was a cheater, what else would you expect? In 2009, director Alex Gibney and producer Frank Marshall set out to make a documentary about Lance Armstrong, the man who overcame testicular cancer and became the poster boy of cycling. Over the course of the lionization of Armstrong, the truth came out, and boy did the subject change course. Documentary out in limited release from Sony Pictures Classics.   At Berkeley … Continue reading Movie Beat – 11.08.13

Movie Beat

Movie Beat – 07.19.13

Michael J. Casey

The Act of Killing – Anwar Congo and his cronies helped the Indonesian army kill millions of communists, ethnic Chinese, and intellectuals when the military took over the government in 1965. Anwar himself murdered hundreds with his own hands. Now they are movie stars. Never punished for their actions because they ended up on the right side of history, they are now recreating the murders, the atrocities, their side of the story for cameras in hopes that the truth will out and people will see them for the saviors that they see themselves. Guaranteed to chill you to your core. … Continue reading Movie Beat – 07.19.13

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HITCHCOCK

Michael J. Casey

The old truism goes, behind every great man is an even greater woman. This was seldom truer than the relationship of Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville. Hitchcock got his start in the British film industry drawing title cards and sets. Alma Reville worked as a producer and slowly their path’s converged. According to Donald Spoto’s biography, The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock, Hitch was taken with Alma, but refused to speak to her until they were on equal ground professionally. He waited and worked his way up to a position as a director and the two … Continue reading HITCHCOCK

Movie Beat

Movie Beat – 11.23.12

Michael J. Casey

A short work week means a long weekend for movie watching. Six new films out this holiday weekend in addition to Silver Linings Playbook expanding it’s release. You got some extra time, so you might as well dig into a couple of movies. Here are your choices: The Central Park Five – On the morning of April 20, 1989, a young white woman, Trishia Meili, was found in Central Park. She had been brutally assaulted and raped the night before. Five teenage boys were brought forward and convicted of the assault. Four of them were black and one was Latino. Coherence into … Continue reading Movie Beat – 11.23.12