Philomena is a film in the vein of most of the Weinstein Company films: a solid movie that doesn’t do too much or too little, rests on some good performances and snappy dialogue. The movie, which is out this week, was runner up for the Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and comes out with a certain pedigree. Thankfully this small flick manages to be enjoyable, if a little bit too well meaning, on its way to a pretty good conclusion.
Two years ago Ashgar Farhadi gifted the world with a dazzling movie titled A Separation. Winning every award in sight, it announced the filmmaker to an audience he didn’t previously have, like myself. So when it was announced that the director would have his follow up film The Past at AFI I rushed out to have the opportunity to see the flick. While the movie doesn’t reach the operatic heights of his prior film, The Past is still a solid movie.
It’s so nice when a movie is so good it can defy your previously conceived notions/fear. To be honest, when I first heard about Her,I had ZERO desire to watch it. How interesting would a movie about a dude falling in love with a computer be? And given my feelings towards the other Spike Jonze films I’d seen I was skeptical of this latest effort. Even with all those misgivings, I made sure to get myself to a screening at AFI Fest to see what all the praise and affectations were about with this movie.
Originally published at Awards Circuit By the time Child’s Pose ended all I could do was say “Man, that was a great movie.” Throughout the nearly two-hour running time I was awed by the various twists and turns employed by the narrative, the fantastic acting, and the complexity that a film like this can employ. Calin Peter Netzer has
A one hour and twenty-minute heart attack. That’s the immediate description that came to my mind after the AFI Fest screening of Charlie Victor Romeo. Good heavens is that movie stressful. Luckily for people getting a chance to check the flick out, the movie is far more interesting than one might think on first glance and provides a unique look into fascinating subject matter.
There are few films this year that will fill you with the kind of wonderment and joy than Saving Mr. Banks. Channeling the spirit of their glory years, Disney has managed to craft a tale that’s reverential without being overly sentimental. Showbiz stories often fail at this but Banks provides an interesting insight into the making of a fascinating picture.