Drama – Page 3 – The 4th Reel

March 9, 2018

Holden On

Beyond the charmed life and college-bound façade is a darkness and a crippling anguish that lies within Holden. Eventually, Holden’s demons overwhelm him and he takes his own life at the age of 19, sending shockwaves throughout the community and those who knew Holden Layfield. One of these people was Tamlin Hall.

January 7, 2018

Molly’s Game

Aaron Sorkin, Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba make a glorious threesome in “Molly’s Game,” a busy, but entertaining true story based upon the “real life is stranger than fiction” saga of Molly Bloom.

December 16, 2017

Lady Bird

Movies don’t necessarily have to be big-budget extravaganzas in order to transport an audience to a different time and place. Sometimes, all it takes is a good story, good acting, well-written dialogue and universal themes to engage our imaginations. Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” is an excellent example of the kind of small, simple movie that draws the viewer in on the strength of its story and the attention to its craft.

October 8, 2017

Thelma

A profoundly religious teenager discovers the supernatural powers that allow her to control things with her mind. Sound familiar? No, we’re not talking about Carrie, we’re talking about her Norwegian cousin, Thelma.

October 4, 2017

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

I love this movie! The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) is a fresh and natural spin on the “fractured family uniting in an hour of need” trope. Director Noah Baumbach’s (Margot at the Wedding) film is a nice change of pace from the typically obnoxious dysfunctional family drama so popular around this time of year.

September 18, 2017

First They Killed My Father

Angelina Jolie directs the adaptation of Loung Ung’s memoir “First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers” and the results are a film that is experienced rather than enjoyed.

September 14, 2017

mother!

I can’t think of a contemporary director who brings the “WTF?!?!” better than Darren Aronofsky, and he proves as much with his latest: the maternal insanity that is mother!

September 14, 2017

BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Director Robin Campillo affectionately explores the early years of the AIDS crisis through the lens of the Paris outfit of AIDS activist group, ACT UP.

September 13, 2017

Valley of Shadows

While there is stuff to admire in Valley of Shadows, this Norwegian import really wasn’t my cup of tea. This is one of those movies that is long on atmosphere, but short on action or dialogue. A very European movie in style and nature, Valley of Shadows will only appeal to filmgoers who are into minimalist exercises in style.

September 13, 2017

I Love You, Daddy

Louis C.K. produces and films a movie under the cloak of secrecy from Hollywood and it proves to be a big, fun, surprisingly poignant treatise on the modern relationship between parent and child.

September 13, 2017

I, Tonya

Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya takes a ripped-from-the-headlines true story and infuses it with unexpected empathy. Invaluable assistance is provided from star Margot Robbie, whose performance here is even more star making than her showy breakout turn in Wolf of Wall Street. Her work, as well as that of co-stars Sebastian Stan and Allison Janney (not to mention director Gillespie and cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis) should garner plenty of attention come awards time.

September 3, 2017

A Simple Plan

This is one of those “What would you do?” movies (another example would be Indecent Proposal, though this one is vastly superior). You know the setup: a group of seemingly simple and moral individuals are confronted with a pot of gold/pile of money/Pandora’s Box…choose your temptation, and must make a fateful decision that will test their characters. Of course, things do not go as planned, as they tend not to do in movies like this.