Macbeth (2015). D: Justin Kurzel. DP: Adam Arkapaw. W: Jacob Kosoff, Todd Louiso & Michael Lesslie. Starring: Michael Fassbender/Marion Cotillard/David Thewlis/Sean Harris/Jack Reynor/Paddy Considine/Elizabeth Debicki. Macbeth or The Scottish Play as it is referred to in theatres is one of Shakespeare’s plays rarely adapted for the screen. This new version, directed by Australian Justin Kurzel,…
A Tale of Two Jungles
One of my favorite Disney animated features is coming again to the big screen in their live action (meaning CGI) adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. If this will do anything hopefully it will dispel my horrible memories of the 1994 live action version directed by Stephen Sommers. This version will play into our…
This is For All the Girls When They Have Grown
The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015). D/W: Marielle Heller. DP: Brandon Trost. Starring: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Meloni, Abby Wait, Madeleine Waters, Austin Lyon, Margarita Leveiva. Based on Phoebe Gloeckner’s 2002 novel The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures. Another Sundance darling is making its transatlantic…
Love in the Country
Far From the Madding Crowd (2015). D: Thomas Vinterberg. DP: Charlotte Bruus Christensen. W: David Nicholls. Starring: Carey Mulligan/Matthias Schoenaerts/Michael Sheen/Tom Sturridge/Juno Temple/Jessica Barden/Bradley Hall. (Based on Thomas Hardy’s novel of the same name) Heading into summer we are hit with a barrage of huge films, from budget to scope to locale. Thankfully smaller gems…
A Story in Song
The Last 5 Years (2015). D/W: Richard LaGravenese. DP: Steve Meizler. Music & Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Starring: Anna Kendrick & Jeremy Jordan. Only in one cinema here in London, I sadly ventured into the most touristy area of the city to sit down for The Last 5 Years. Only for the musical enthusiast,…
Time to GET READING!
Here is the trailer for the new film Every Secret Thing, based on Laura Lippman’s novel, starring Dakota Fanning, Diane Lane and Elizabeth Banks. Looking for a summer reading recommendation from me? Here it is! Every Secret Thing
A Gentlemanly Disguise
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015). D: Matthew Vaughn. DP: George Richmond. W: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn. Starring: Colin Firth/Samuel L. Jackson/Mark Strong/Taron Egerton/Michael Caine/Sofia Boutella/Mark Hamill/Sophie Cookson/Jack Davenport. What if the only English spy wasn’t a famous Mr. Bond? The new film Kingsman: The Secret Service answers just that with its own brand of…
The Right Amount of Yes
Wild (2014). D: Jean-Marc Vallée. W: Nick Hornby. DP: Yves Bélanger. Starring: Reese Witherspoon/Laura Dern/Gaby Hoffman/Thomas Sadoski/Keene McRae/Michiel Huisman/Kevin Rankin. (Based on Cheryl Strayed’s memoir of the same name) Setting out on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995, beginning at Mojave and ending at the Bridge of the Gods, writer Cheryl Strayed attempted to literally…
Singing Sondheim with Success
Into the Woods (2014). D: Rob Marshall. W: James Lapine. DP: Dion Beebe. Starring: Meryl Streep/Emily Blunt/James Corden/Johnny Depp/Anna Kendrick/Chris Pine/Lilla Crawford/Tracey Ullman/Daniel Huttlestone/Christine Baranski/Billy Magnussen/Mackenzie Mauzy/Lucy Punch/Tammy Blanchard. (Based on Stephen Sondheim’s 1987 musical of the same name) The musical genre has been struggling for a comeback for the last decade. Since 2002’s Oscar…