Stewball

This one has really grown on me. From the fantastic use of nature footage (especially the parallel use of the cheetah/gazelle footage), the casual humor, to the story that pushes the limits of reality into surreal visuals--and pulls back just before I'm about to go "awww c'mon!" (in almost every case), it was an excellent ride. Morgan Freeman is in his usual character of late, though he has a little more to work with, and SJ is perfect. She starts off as the bimbo with the looser boyfriend then

100 _99%

The Counselor (2013) - Rated 26 Oct 2013

By the time it's over you realize this is more blood curdling and wicked than any horror tale. But it sneaks up on you. It's like Savages, Blow and Traffic all rolled into one that reaches out and punches you in the throat with the scope and depth of the cold blooded darkness it portrays. It disarms you from the beginning with the extensive normality in it's engaging dialogue, it's interesting characters and even humor, especially one scene involving a Ferrari. But even knowing this I doubt anyo

100 _99%

Like Sunday, Like Rain (2014) - Rated 05 Apr 2015

Some are calling this melancholy, but I think bittersweet is a better word. Above all, it's a story about a 12 year-old music prodigy being played by a c. 12 year-old acting prodigy. What's the significance of 12? It's that age where you're as mature as you're going to get before the onset of puberty. But what if your emotional maturity and profound awareness outstrip your physical growth? It's about resigning yourself to your solitude, until.... The result is a bittersweet gulf between two o

100 _99%

Her (2013) - Rated 10 Jan 2014

OK, I don't know how to say this without sounding like I've gone around the bend, but barring some thoughts I haven't contemplated, and I've always steered away from saying something is my all time favorite, but this may be it. I've never been that impressed with Spike Jonze films before, but this one not only touched my soul, it enunciated things that I've kept pretty close to my chest. I was looking forward to a good film, and the first half/two-thirds of it were about what I expected--exce

70 _54%

The Big Short (2015) - Rated 24 Dec 2015

OK, first off, there ain't near enough humor in it for it to be labeled a comedy. And yeah, it's an incomplete picture, but only because it pulls up short at every opportunity it had to present the whole story. The scene with the model in the bubble-bath sipping champagne while mulling over the implications of all those sub-prime mortgages came as close as it got to spilling the beans. Then there was the ditsy former government regulator who was now on the payroll of the p

90 _93%

Savages (2012) - Rated 24 Jul 2012

As an off again on again fan of Oliver Stone, I think this is probably his best, including Platoon. Belongs at the pinnacle of the war on drugs genre along with Blow and Traffic. Casting, screenplay, savage action, dialogue, message and even the very innovative ending are all excellent. Del Toro does the sadistic, if not too bright, enforcer as well as it can be done, and Travolta as the glib, asshole DEA agent deserves the jerk-of-the-year award. But Salma Hayek delivers the most profound line

80 _80%

The Hateful Eight (2015) - Rated 29 Dec 2015

Tarantino must have been channeling Macbeth: "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". But like any beautiful, well staged train wreck, you just can't turn away. A perfectly hateful 80.

90 _93%

Hateship Loveship (2014) - Rated 03 May 2014

This is another one to add to the list of recent superlative female performances in the last few years. They just keep coming. If a lack of action or "character driven" defines a chick-flick, then I guess this one qualifies. But for me, its tone just doesn't put it in that category. And even for those who don't believe in awards, the melding of the truly imaginative screenplay with Kristen Wiig's superb, often wordless performance of it, would probably prompt a lot of them to make an exception m

90 _93%

Nightcrawler (2014) - Rated 01 Nov 2014

Really dark look of what is ultimately a widespread insatiable social disease, sensational gore, and the lengths those who provide it will go to. I'm sure the drug cartels could learn a thing or two about ruthlessness from Louis Bloom. This and "End of Watch" are bookends to the amazing range of Gyllenhaal's talent. To borrow a line from "Her", He's a really creepy dude.

80 _80%

Late Night (2019) - Rated 16 Jun 2019

Emma Thompson is her usual adept and flawless self (my favorite performance is in "Stranger Than Fiction"), while Mindy Kakling is the off screen overweight token minority comedienne with a degree of talent, who plays one on screen. In addittion to the political correctness, the plot indicates itself to be in the leftist political camp in it's support of Planned Parenthood. But later it shoots itself in the left foot (which I must assume was intentional), when Mz. Newbery, while interviewing t