June 2017

The Beguiled

  • Title: The Beguiled
  • IMDb: link

The Beguiled movie reviewThe Beguiled is a remake of 1971 film starring Clint Eastwood as a wounded soldier brought into and tended by the residents of a Southern all-girls boarding school. Choosing to remake the film more from the perspective of the women rather than the male intruder in their lives, Sofia Coppola‘s version of The Beguiled is highlighted by strong performances all around but it’s sadly also the least-interesting movie of the talented director’s career.

The remake casts Colin Farrell as Union Corporal McBurney who is found by one of school’s tweens (Oona Laurence). With the bleeding soldier loosing consciousness on arrival, the headmistress Miss Martha (Nicole Kidman) chooses to tend to the soldier’s wounds. As he heals the charming man makes effort to separately woo the various women of the house (whose number also include Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, Angourie Rice, Addison Riecke, and Emma Howard) winning them all over to his side. However, the soldier certainly can’t keep his empty promises to all the girls which leads to a dark turn and lots of conflict in the film’s final act as the women discover the fox they’ve let into their hen house.

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The Hero

  • Title: The Hero
  • IMDb: link

The Hero movie reviewThe Hero is a fairly straightforward film about an aging actor coming to terms with his mortality after a troubling medical diagnosis forces him to reexamine his life. Western star Lee Hayden (Sam Elliott) is known really for only one role over his long career (which now consists mostly of commercial voice-over work for barbecue sauce). Elliot is well-cast, and makes the most of the character as he tries to mend fences with his estranged daughter (Krysten Ritter) and try to understand his new relationship with a younger woman (Laura Prepon) who walks unexpectedly into his life.

While not as ambitious as I’d like, director and co-writer Brett Haley delivers just what you’d expect from a film with this premise, ultimately The Hero fails or succeeds on the performance of Elliot who shoulders most of the film’s emotional weight. Thankfully he’s up to the task. I was a bit unsure about Prepon and her character, but her influence does drive some of the film’s best scenes which include Hayden’s audition won when his drug-controlled behavior at an awards show goes viral over social media. The Hero is a solid film. It won’t wow you, but like it’s leading character, it’s slow and steady. Sometimes that does win the race.

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Pretty Little Liars – Til DeAth Do Us PArt

  • Title: Pretty Little Liars – Til DeAth Do Us PArt
  • wiki: link

Pretty Little Liars - Til DeAth Do Us PArt television review

The more television shows attempt to a super-sized wrap-up in a finale the more they seem to struggle with providing a fitting farewell. That’s certainly the case with “‘Til Death Do Us Part” which brings an end to seven seasons of Pretty Little Liars. To be sure, the end feels a bit off as the show already wrapped-up it’s major storyline by unmasking the Liars tormentor and then jumping ahead five years into the future only to introduce another unseen attacking playing with their lives in the same ways. While last week’s penultimate episode cleared the Liars of any criminal charges and brought an end (so they believed) to the games with A.D., the finale goes back to the well again not only with the return of their faceless adversary but also a reveal that includes twins. A rather forced next generation tease is also put on display here suggesting Rosewood is one fucked-up place to live and the trials and tribulations of the Liars might actually not be that special or unique after all.

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Batman #25

Batman #25 comic reviewBatman #25 offers very little of the Batman, and only one unspoken cameo for his new bride-to-be. Instead the issue sets up events for the comic’s next big arc. While the Joker passes time shooting comedians who fail to make him laugh, the Riddler finds a way to bring his incarceration to an end by threatening the lives of the prison guards’ children. With two of Batman’s most notorious enemies at large it doesn’t take long for the pair to cross paths. When the Riddler’s suggestion of a team-up for the pair is rebuffed by the noisy end of a gun it proves to be the first shot fired in “The War of Jokes and Riddles.”

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