Chip Kaufmann’s Pick: Tower of London (1939) Now that the bones of Richard III have been found, it’s time to rediscover this well made, non-Shakespearean version of the story. Released in 1939, this film is what used to be known as a historical melodrama. In order to sell it toContinue Reading
Broken City ***1/2 Short Take: Well made contemporary film noir covers no new ground but does what it needs to do thanks to a strong cast and solid direction from Allen Hughes. Reel Take: Broken City is another in the seemingly endless line of low profile films where I findContinue Reading
And the Oscar Goes to… The 85th Academy Awards takes place Sunday, February 24. In a move, more akin to the Golden Globes, Seth MacFarlane will serve as master of ceremonies. The creative force behind TV’s Family Guy and American Dad and one of the year’s raunchiest comedies, Ted, MacFarlaneContinue Reading
Chip Kaufmann’s Pick: Lawman (1971) The death of director Michael Winner (see page 26) spurred me on to revisit several of his key movies from the 1970s. Winner was one of my favorite directors from back then and I chose as my pick this month not his best known movieContinue Reading
Hitchcock ****1/2 Short Take: An utterly entertaining look at Alma and Alfred Hitchcock’s marriage during the production of Psycho. Reel Take: I admit that prior to seeing Hitchcock, I had reservations. From the trailers, I thought Anthony Hopkins looked possibly even creepier as Alfred Hitchcock than he did as HannibalContinue Reading
Last year, The Artist, The Descendants, Hugo and Midnight in Paris topped virtually everyone’s critical lists. For me, they topped my critical and personal top tens. This year was quite different, and ranking my critical top 10 films for the Southeast Film Critics Association ballots proved a bit of aContinue Reading
Chip Kaufmann’s Pick: Les Miserables (1998) Now that the blockbuster musical version of Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel LesMiserables has hit the big screen (reviewed in this issue), it makes sense to recommend one of the non musical versions so that you can actually experience the story more or less theContinue Reading
A Late Quartet ****1/2 Short Take: A truly remarkable film about the members of a string quartet and the challenges they face after a member is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Reel Take: The first of many pleasant surprises regarding A Late Quartet occurred right at the beginning when the filmContinue Reading
The holiday season is upon us. That means Hollywood will be rolling out some mainstream crowd pleasers and Oscar contenders. Whether it’s wholesome family fun, a CGI action-fest, or pretentious art house indie, there’s something for everyone at your local theatres. Here’s a sampling of what’s heading to the bigContinue Reading
