Columns By Andrea Gronvallandreagronvall@aol.com
The Gronvall Report: THE EAST’s Batmanglij and Marling
The East is that rarity among espionage thrillers: a film that offers intricate plotting without being plodding; privileges characters over action sequences; and introduces a credible, memorable female protagonist. Brit Marling, an actress with arresting presence, plays an intelligence agent newly poached from the FBI by the head of a private security firm (Patricia Clarkson) whose mandate is to clean up messes created by high-profile companies before the public catches on.
Read the full article »The DVD Wrapup
El Sicario, Warm Bodies, Identity Thief, Die Hard, In Old Arizona, Mosquita, James Dean, Last Ride, Mad Max and so much more.
Read the full article »Wilmington on DVDs: The Odd Couple, Warm Bodies; A Good Day to Die Hard; Identity Thief
Nervous, punctilious white collar fussbudget Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon) and wise-cracking slob sports writer Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) are long time poker buddies thrown together as temporary roomies in Oscar’s N.Y.C. apartment, thanks to Felix’s marital troubles. Can these two mismatched friends, with several failed (or failing) relationships between them, survive their own semi-conjugal non-bliss together? Or will they clamor for a divorce, when the magnitude of Oscar’s laissez-faire housekeeping sinks in?
Read the full article »DVD Geek: Cloud Atlas
Directed by the Wachowski siblings Lana and Andy, and by Tom Tykwer, the film, like Intolerance, is broken into different stories set in different eras, with dazzling editing that jumps from story to story like fingers sweeping down the keys of a piano. The prominent cast members have multiple roles, figuring centrally in some stories and peripherally in others. Tom Hanks is top billed, and his performances are no stunt—he’s really, really good in each of his highly varied roles. Running a grand 172 minutes, the film is dazzling and intelligent, and is never tedious or introspective. It will take multiple viewings before people begin to recognize how elaborate its breakdown of religion is—how events that happen hundreds of years earlier change in the telling across the centuries while retaining the essen It is a thrilling movie, and is easily the best theatrical feature to come out of 2012, not only for its unrestrained entertainment, but for the boundaries it breaks as it advances the art of filmmaking.
Read the full article »The Weekend Report
Fast & Furious 6 was dominant in second gear as it sped away to an estimated $34.5 million. That propelled a couple of newcomers to a tight race for second place with the unexpected winner the offbeat caper tale Now You See Me prestidigitating a gross of $27.9 million. A disappointing step behind with $27.2 million was the futuristic survival lesson After Earth.
Read the full article »Wilmington on Movies: After Earth
You’ve got to feel, a little, for Will Smith and M. Night Shyamalan as you watch their misbegotten science-fiction movie After Earth—of which Will was the producer, co-star and original story writer, and his 14-tear-old son Jaden the star and which became a critical punching bag last week. It’s not a good movie, but its heart, or hearts, were in at least some of the right places.
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