The Philadelphia Story (1940) It is such a joy to come across a movie that truly excellent in every aspect.  Great cast(Katherine Hepburn, James Stewart and Cary Grant plus a top notch supporting cast), great scrip(based on a Broadway script written especially for Hepburn), and director(George Cukor)  each bringing their tasks home with skill, a complete... Continue Reading →

Father of Invention (2010) - Kevin Spacey is one of those actors that I will always watch.  So this one had to be added to my queue solely on the basis that he stars in it.  I don't remember seeing any publicity at the time and the title means nothing to me.    Spacey plays an... Continue Reading →

Smokin' Aces (2006) - Rated R - OK, start by thinking Tarantino.  Think Grindhouse.  Then take away any sense of humor, any wit or any real style.  What you're left with is "Smokin' Aces".  It's violent, its obscenity laden, it's bloody in the extreme.  Add in, shall we call it, leisurely pacing and you end... Continue Reading →

Sunshine Cleaning (2008) - A good cast can sometimes (not always) overcome a weak script.  Amy Adams and Emily Blunt manage to do just that with an otherwise predictable sweet story. Rose and Norah are single women trying and mostly failing to make it in this world. Their mother killed herself when they were small... Continue Reading →

Last King of Scotland (2006) - Based on the facts of the rule of Idi Amin in Uganda this is the fictional story of a young Scots doctor who gets pulled into the dictator's inner circle.  James McAvoy is wonderful as the footloose, ethically challenged young man who is running away from his life at home and... Continue Reading →

The Dark Knight Rises - (2012) - Yes, I actually got out and saw a current movie in the theater!  The latest Batman film has generated all kinds of commentary.  For some it is just the latest in a beloved story cycle while for others it is a disjointed shambles of a movie.  When I... Continue Reading →