CHARACTERSCURA: Movie Reviews of The Hero and Moscow Never Sleeps by Howard Casner
Posted: June 23, 2017 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Brett Haley, Johnny O’Reilly, Krysten Ritter, Laura Prepon, Marc Basch, Moscow Never Sleeps, Nick Offerman, Sam Elliott, The Hero | 903 Comments »
First, a word from our sponsors: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who contributed to our Indiegogo campaign for 15 Conversations in 10 Minutes. We did very well due to you folks. For those who weren’t able to give, keep us in your thoughts. And if you are able to contribute in the future, contact me and I’ll tell you how. I will even honor the perks on the original campaign.
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Warning: SPOILERS
Sam Elliott, the go to guy to cast as a love interest for older women, has a somewhat limited acting range. His technique, generally speaking, is of him taking a stance, cocking his head a bit, and delivering a line with a twinkle his eye. And there often seems to be very little variation on this approach.
But you know what?
I don’t care. I just love seeing him on the screen. Maybe it’s his mellifluous voice that could calm a tornado (somewhat satirized here in the opening and closing as he does a voice over for a BBQ ad). Maybe it’s his sincerity. Maybe it’s just his ability to be on the screen with seemingly little effort.
I just like him. Read the rest of this entry »
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Movie reviews of Selma and Big Eyes by Howard Casner
Posted: January 16, 2015 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amy Adams, Ava DuVerney, Big Eyes, Carmen Ejogo, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, DAvid Oyelowo, Jason Schwartzman, Krysten Ritter, Larry Karaszewski, Margaret Keane, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Webb, Scott Alexander, Selma, Terence Stamp, Tim Burton, Tim Roth, Tom Wilkinson | 6 Comments »First, a word from our sponsors. Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
Warning: SPOILERS
The title of these reviews is called Last But Not Least because Big Eyes and Selma are the final two movies I’m going to include under my 2014 reviews. After this, all films will fall under my 2015 reviews, no matter whether they were released in 2014 or not.
So off we go.
The strongest aspect of Big Eyes, the new bio-com written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski and directed by Tim Burton, is the art direction and production design.
Beginning in the 1950’s, the sets, the costumes, the look, the colors all have a poodle skirt playfulness about them that gives the movie some much needed energy.
This should probably be of no surprise since Burton has always had one of the more striking visual eyes in movies today, from Edward Scissorhands to Ed Wood to Alice in Wonderland. If nothing else, his films can be fun to watch.
But outside of that, there is almost nothing that works in this movie. Nothing, and almost amazingly so. Read the rest of this entry »
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