Lincoln

Movies to See Right Now

by
56 UP

I haven’t yet seen 56 Up, the next chapter in the greatest documentary series ever. Starting with Seven Up! in 1964, director Michael Apted has followed the same fourteen British children, filming snapshots of their lives at ages 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and 49. Choosing kids from different backgrounds, the series started as a critique of the British class system, but has since evolved into a broader exploration of what factors can lead to success and happiness at different stages of human life. The ultimate reality show. I’ve included the 7 Up series in my list of Greatest Movies of All Time. It opens today, as does The Gatekeepers, a documentary centered around interviews with all six surviving former chiefs of Shin Bet, Israel’s super-secret internal security force. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

It’s you last chance to catch the Oscar-nominated movies before the Academy Awards: Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained and Life of Pi.  The French language drama Amour is a brilliantly made and almost unbearable to watch.  If you really like musicals, you will probably like the lavish but stupefying Les Miserables (I didn’t).

The best new movie is Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Side Effects with Rooney Mara, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones. In Stand Up Guys, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin play old mobsters gearing up for one last surge of adrenaline. Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances. The charmingly funny Warm Bodies has made my list of Zombie Movies for People Who Don’t Like Zombie Movies. The pretty good horror movie Mama (with Jessica Chastain) can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril. I have not seen Movie 43 – it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.

My DVD/Stream of the week is the Oscar winning Gosford Park, a fitting companion to the just completed third season of Downton Abbey.

Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the Oscars with its annual 31 Days of Oscars, filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films. This week, the lineup includes one of the funniest movies ever, Mel Brook’s glorious The Producers.

Movies to See Right Now

by
Jude Law in SIDE EFFECTS

The best new movie is Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Side Effects with Rooney Mara, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones.  In Stand Up Guys, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin play old mobsters gearing up for one last surge of adrenaline. Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances. The charmingly funny Warm Bodies has made my list of Zombie Movies for People Who Don’t Like Zombie Movies. The pretty good horror movie Mama (with Jessica Chastain) can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering.

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life – it’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man. Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all-star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril. I have not seen Movie 43 – it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the week is the underrated 2012 thriller Deadfall.

Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the Oscars with its annual 31 Days of Oscars, filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films. In the next week, the especially rich lineup will include Double Indemnity, A Place in the Sun, Seven Days in May, All the King’s Men, Anatomy of a Murder with its great jazz score, On the Waterfront, The Caine Mutiny, Easy Rider, The Last Detail, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia and Tootsie.

Movies to See Right Now

by
THE KID WITH A BIKE

Okay, here we are, and I’m recommending a zombie movie and a horror film.   In the charmingly funny Warm Bodies, Rome and Juliet meets Beauty and the Beast in a zombie movie.  The pretty good horror movie Mama (with Jessica Chastain) can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering.  In Stand Up Guys, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin play old mobsters gearing up for one last surge of adrenaline.  Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances.

The Oscar Nominated Short Films are in theaters only for another week.  Last night I saw the Live Action and Animated Shorts.  If you can see just one, I recommend the Live Action Shorts, especially Curfew.

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life – it’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man.  Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril. I have not seen Movie 43 – it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the week is my pick for the very best film of 2012, The Kid with a Bike.

Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the Oscars with its annual 31 Days of Oscars, filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films.  Don’t overlook the overlooked film noir thriller The Narrow Margin or the WW II spy thriller The Fallen Sparrow with John Garfield and a 22-year-old Maureen O’Hara.

Movies to See Right Now

by
AMOUR

Try to catch the Oscar Nominated Short Films – in theaters only for this coming week.  The pretty good horror movie Mama, with Jessica Chastain, can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering. Quartet is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances.

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.  The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life – it’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.  I have not seen Movie 43 –  it is the most critically reviled movie in a looooong time.

I haven’t seen the Pacino/Walken/Arkin geezer mob film Stand Up Guys or the inventive zombie movie Warm Bodies, which open this weekend. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the week is the deliciously pulpy neo-noir The Paperboy.

Today Turner Classic Movies begins its annual 31 Days of Oscars, celebrating the Oscars by filling its broadcast schedule with Academy Award-winning films.

Movies to See Right Now

by
Jessica Chastain in MAMA

The pretty good horror movie Mama, with Jessica Chastain, can send chills down your spine without any slashing or splattering.  Quartet, which opens this weekend, is a pleasant lark of a geezer comedy with four fine performances.

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 and all are nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

The French language drama Amour, also nominated for Best Picture, is a brilliantly made film about the end of life. It’s a lead pipe cinch to win the Best Foreign Language Oscar. It’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast. Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.

I haven’t yet seen the raunchy all-star comedy Movie 43, which opens today.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the week is the gripping cop thriller End of Watch.

Movies to See Right Now

by
Jessica Chastain in ZERO DARK THIRTY

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012. and all nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. My top pick remains the enthralling Zero Dark Thirty tells the story of the frustrating, wearying and dangerous ten-year man hunt for Bin Laden.  In Lincoln, Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis push aside the marble statue and bring to life Abraham Lincoln the man. Argo is Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis. The rewarding dramedy Silver Linings Playbook has a strong story, topicality and humor, but it’s worth seeing just for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance.

The French language drama Amour is a brilliantly made film about the end of life.  It’s a lead pipe cinch to win the Best Foreign Language Oscar.  It’s also an almost unbearable viewing experience.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man. Matt Damon’s stellar performance leads a fine cast in Promised Land, an engaging (until the corny ending) drama about exploitation of natural gas in rural America.  Not Fade Away is a pleasant enough, but unremarkable 60s coming of age story by The Sopranos creator David Chase and rocker Steven Van Zandt.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

Skip the unoriginal mob movie Gangster Squad, which wastes its fine cast.   Also pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD of the week is the French odd couple movie The Intouchables – a real crowd pleaser and the second most popular movie of all time in France.

Movies to See Right Now

by
ZERO DARK THIRTY

The enthralling Zero Dark Thirty tells the story of the frustrating, wearying and dangerous ten-year man hunt for Bin Laden – it’s a Must See.  The intelligent drama Rust and Bone is the singular tale of a complicated woman and an uncomplicated man.  Matt Damon’s stellar performance leads a fine cast in Promised Land, an engaging (until the corny ending) drama about exploitation of natural gas in rural America.  Not Fade Away is a pleasant enough, but unremarkable 60s coming of age story by The Sopranos creator David Chase and rocker Steven Van Zandt.

Like Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are on my list of Best Movies of 2012. In Lincoln, Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis push aside the marble statue and bring to life Abraham Lincoln the man. Argo is Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis. The rewarding dramedy Silver Linings Playbook has a strong story, topicality and humor, but it’s worth seeing just for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. Also don’t overlook the solid thriller Deadfall that is flying under the radar this holiday season.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism. Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

Pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My pick for the best movie of 2012, The Kid with a Bike, is playing on the Sundance Channel three times on January 16-17. And next week Turner Classic Movies will be broadcasting the classic Western A Man Called Horse, Jack Nicholson’s most copmplex performance in Five Easy Pieces and a real curiosity, the 1933 anti-war movie Men Must Fight which predicts World War II with unsettling accuracy.

Movies to See Right Now

by
LINCOLN

If you haven’t already, make sure you see the best three movies this season.  In Lincoln, Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis push aside the marble statue and bring to life Abraham Lincoln the man. Argo is Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis. The rewarding dramedy Silver Linings Playbook has a strong story, topicality and humor, but it’s worth seeing just for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance. All three films are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

If, like me, you worship the spaghetti Western, the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal, splattering exploitation. Also don’t overlook the solid thriller Deadfall that is flying under the radar this holiday season.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling.  Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism.  Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

Pass on the lavish but stupefying all star Les Miserables, with its multiple endings, each more miserable than the last. The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

2012 at the Movies: the year’s best movies

by
THE KID WITH A BIKE

Here’s my list of the best films of 2012: 1)  The Kid with a Bike, 2) Beasts of the Southern Wild, 3) Argo, 4) Lincoln, 5) A Separation, 6) Silver Linings Playbook, 7) Take This Waltz, 8) Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, 9) Elena and 10) Polisse, .

Continuing with my list of 2012’s best films, here are my honorable mentions:  Monsieur Lazhar,  End of Watch, Rampart, Moonrise Kingdom, Headhunters, Bernie and Detachment.

(Note:  I’m saving room for some films that I haven’t yet seen, especially Amour and Zero Dark Thirty, which I won’t get a chance to see until mid-January .)

You can watch the trailers and see my comments on all these films at Best Movies of 2012.

According to Metacritic, all of my picks (except Detachment) were highly rated by prominent critics.  I did disdain some well-reviewed films, most notably The Master, which made lots of critics’ end-of-year lists.

(Further Note:  A Separation won the 2011 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and Monsieur Lazhar was nominated, but neither were widely released in the US until 2012.  Similarly, The Kid with a Bike was screened in October 2011 at the New York Film Festival, but was not theatrically released in the US release until March 2012.  These films are on my 2012 list because, like most Americans, I couldn’t see them until 2012.)

Movies to See Right Now – the big Holiday movies

by
DJANGO UNCHAINED

It’s the Holidays and big Holiday movies are joining the great choices already in theaters.  I haven’t yet seen Tom Hooper’s all star epic Les Miserables, but the Quentin Tarantino blockbuster Django Unchained is gloriously pedal-to-the-metal exploitation.

In Lincoln, Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis push aside the marble statue and bring to life Abraham Lincoln the man.  Argo is Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller based on a true story from the Iran Hostage Crisis. The rewarding dramedy Silver Linings Playbook has a strong story, topicality and humor, but it’s worth seeing just for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance. All three films are on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Don’t overlook The Matchmaker, a gem from Israel or the solid thriller Deadfall that is flying under the radar this holiday season.

Ang Lee’s visually stunning fable Life of Pi is an enthralling commentary on story-telling. The Sessions is an uncommonly evocative, funny and thoughtful film about sex leading to unexpected emotional intimacy. Denzel Washington stars in Flight, a thriller about the miraculous crash landing of an airliner and the even more dangerous battle against alcoholism.  Skyfall updates the James Bond franchise with thrilling action and a more shopworn 007 from Daniel Craig.

The FDR movie Hyde Park on Hudson is a bore.  The crime drama Killing Them Softly wastes an excellent cast on a run-of-the-mill gangster story. Skip the forgettable non-comedy Lay the Favorite. The disaster movie The Impossible is only for audiences that enjoy watching suffering adults and children in peril.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.