Dec 23 2016

Elle

A successful older CEO of a video game company, Michèle (Isabelle Huppert), is violently raped by a mysterious man, a life changing event that awakens uncharted depths of her psyche. In search of her attacker questions of love, sexuality, morality, and mortality are raised; but, will there ever be answers to her queries and what will she learn of herself? Directed by Paul Verhoeven, this multilayered and complex story unwinds yards upon yards of thread in an effort to expose and explore the beauty that can be found in the grotesque, the acceptance of fetish, and what it means to have power in a personal as well as professional relationship. Tortuously endured by Huppert this rich character study manages to keep the audience guessing, twisting, and learning, providing ample material for later debate, a warning, this will not be an easy watch but definitely deserves your attention. Elle, not surprisingly, is rated R.


Dec 16 2016

Collateral Beauty

Devastated by the loss of his daughter an Ad agency Exec, Howard (Will Smith), has withdrawn from society and taken to writing letters to the esoteric and inanimate figures of Death, Time, and Love. Meanwhile, business partners Whit (Edward Norton), Claire (Kate Winslet), and Simon (Michael Peña) find themselves pressed into a corner, in need of selling the agency. To help Howard and help sell the agency a plan is hatched to hire several actors to play the parts of Death (Helen Mirren), Time (Jacob Latimore), and Love (Keira Knightley), emotional therapy at a whole new level. But, as Howard’s therapy progresses, it’s evident the rest of the agency may need help as well, will peace be made by all before it’s too late?collateral Directed by David Frankel and written by Allan Loeb, this semi supernatural holiday tale has all the hallmarks of works such as Winter’s Tale, The Lovely Bones, or A Christmas Carol, bringing a healthy dose of Cheese Whiz to the here and now with an all star cast. A few self important monologues actually manage to carry some weight throughout; but, predictable and telegraphed at each “twist,” the reveals exposed in this overly co-incidental series of events payoff with diminishing returns, end result, an attempted tear jerk resulting in more of a smirk. Collateral Beauty is rated PG-13.


Dec 13 2016

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

As Lord Vader and the Sith look to expand the empire over the galaxy, the development of the Death Star is imminent, To assist in its creation scientist Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is reluctantly drafted into service leaving behind his daughter Jyn (Felicity Jones). Now with the rebel alliance growing in strength any and all leverage to stop the Empire must be employed; to that end, stealing the plans to the Death Star and learning its weaknesses is of the utmost importance, just the job for Jyn, Cassian (Diego Luna), Droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), the blind Chirrut (Donnie Yen) partner Blaze (Wen Jiang), and turncoat pilot Bodhi (Riz Ahmed). rogue-one Directed by Gareth Edwards, this expanded footnote of Star Wars lore serves to connect a number of relatively unnecessary dots in an effort to provide more context to the already clouded landscape of George Lucas and Co. That is to say, brace for more planets, more moons, more storm troopers, more interstellar characters we can’t really get attached to, and brace for more of what we’ve come to expect. Perhaps a bit less rapturous in its conclusion as we’re never really given a chance to strongly bond with our leads, and, despite its best efforts, the whole experience feels less grandiose. Still, with a built in audience, this will obviously serve as a palate cleanser for those needing their Star Wars fix until we can dig in to episode VIII expected in 2017; prepare to be whelmed but not overwhelmed with nostalgia. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is rated PG-13