With some of his performances, George Clooney has been known for hitting the ball out of the ballpark. A two-time Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor in a Leading Performance (2007’s Michael Clayton, 2009’s Up In The Air), Clooney is poised for his third nomination with 2011’s The Descendants. Successful as both a supporting actor (Academy Award Winner – 2005’s Syriana) as for as work behind the camera (Academy Award Nominee for Best Director – 2005’s Good Night and Good Luck), Clooney is at his best when the movie revolves around his performance as a leading man. This is precisely what happens in this movie. Continue reading The Descendants (2011)
Category Archives: Genre
Rabbit Hole (2010)
Had it received a release date in any other year, Rabbit Hole would have made my Top 10 Movie of the Year list. But as I’ve stated many times in my reviews, 2010 was, without question, the best year for movies in my lifetime. Rabbit Hole is a very well-acted, directed, heavy-hitting drama about the grieving process and the obstacles we must overcome to recover from the unexpected loss of a child. Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!, Cold Mountain) earned her third Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Academy Award Nomination (she won the award in 2003 for her role as Virginia Wolfe in The Hours) for her role as Becca, a grieving mother who struggles to comes to terms with her life after her four-year-old son is struck and killed by a car after running into the street while chasing the family dog.
Melancholia (2011)
After being thoroughly disappointed by Terrence Malick’s tone poem The Tree of Life, I was hesitant to watch Melancholia after watching its similar artistic trailer and hearing comparisons between the two movies. However, unlike The Tree of Life, which I went to see thinking would be a good movie, I decided to view Melancholia because some were calling it the best performance of Kirsten Dunst’s (Spiderman, The Virgin Suicides) career. While Dunst was deserving of the praise, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the experience of Melancholia.
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Gangs of New York, The Departed) and Kate Winslet (The Reader, Little Children) reunite for the first time since they smashed the box office record as Jack and Rose in 1997’s Titanic. Revolutionary Road is also a love story, but it’s about a couple falling out of love rather than falling in love. Both are superb in this movie. It is easy to identify with each of their characters. And while Winslet and especially DiCaprio are at the top of their game, they are overshadowed by two scene-stealing scenes involving Michael Shannon (Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, Take Shelter). Shannon plays the mentally unstable son of their real estate agent, friend Helen (Kathy Bates – Misery, Dolores Claiborne), and her husband. Michael has no filter between his brain and his mouth and thus tells anyone and everyone exactly what he is thinking at any given moment. This is not a good thing, as Michael’s outlook on life and people, in general, is as pessimistic as one can be. It creates moments of intensified drama resulting in unfiltered anger. Rightfully so, Shannon was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award (the award went to Heath Ledger for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight), even though he was on the screen for fewer than 15 minutes.
Continue reading Revolutionary Road (2008)
The Hustler (1961)
Continuing my alternating pattern between Paul Newman and Michelle Williams movies, I watched the Robert Rossen (All The King’s Men, Body and Soul) 1961 classic The Hustler. This movie stars Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke, Hud), perhaps in his most recognizable role. If someone were asked to name a billiards player, either real or fictional, the name Fast Eddie Felson would be on the tips of most people’s tongues. Twenty-five years between the release of The Hustler and 1986’s The Color of Money is the longest period between an original movie and its first sequel. Newman’s performance as Fast Eddie in the sequel is the one that won him his overly due Oscar Win for Best Actor.