Doing the Binge This Labor Day – A Way to Visit Other Worlds and Save a Mind in Lock-down by Brad Balfour Yes, I did. I let a lot of things go when the pandemic shut-down kicked in. My hair grew out; I ceased emailing and texting with a lot of good and great people; … Continue reading
ANIARA (2018) Starring Emelie Jonsson, Bianca Cruzeiro, Arvin Kananian, Anneli Martini, Jennie Silfverhjelm, Peter Carlberg, Emma Broome, Jamil Drissi, Leon Jiber, Juan Rodríguez, David Nzinga, Dakota Trancher Williams, Otis Castillo Ålhed, Dante Westergårdh, Elin Lilleman Eriksson, Agnes Lundgren and Alexi Carpentieri. Screenplay by Pella Kagerman and Hugo Lilja. Directed by Pella Kagerman and Hugo Lilja. … Continue reading
PROSPECT (2018) Starring Sophie Thatcher, Jay Duplass, Pedro Pascal, Andre Royo, Sheila Vand, Anwan Glover, Luke Pitzrick, Arthur Deranleau, Alex McCauley, Doug Dawson, Krista Johnson, Brian Guntner, Trick Danneker, Christopher Morson, Ben Little and Shepheard Earl. Screenplay by Zeek Earl & Christopher Caldwell. Directed by Zeek Earl & Christopher Caldwell. Distributed by Dust/Gunpowder & Sky. … Continue reading
ARRIVAL (2016) Starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mark O’Brien, Tzi Ma, Julia Scarlett Dan, Abigail Pniowsky, Jadyn Malone, Frank Schorpion, Lucas Chartier-Dessert, Christian Jadah, Lucy Van Oldenbarneveld, Andrew Shaver, Pat Kiely, Sonia Vigneault, Mark Camacho, Sabrina Reeves and Nathaly Thibault. Screenplay by Eric Heisserer. Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Distributed by Paramount … Continue reading
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (2015) Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr., Douglas M. Griffin, Suzanne Cryer and the voices of Frank Mottek, Sumalee Montano and Bradley Cooper. Screenplay by Josh Campbell, Matt Stuecken and Damien Chazelle. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg. Distributed by Paramount Pictures. 103 minutes. Rated PG-13. Several years ago, a savvy … Continue reading
Ridley Scott Legendary Director Launches The Martian by Brad Balfour When an established, serious, award-winning director like Ridley Scott makes a space movie – something associated with solemn drama – humor isn’t expected from its star. Yet in The Martian, where Matt Damon stars as American astronaut Mark Watney, who has been accidentally left behind on Mars after a mission disaster, the humor humanizes the situation. … Continue reading
INTERSTELLAR (2015) Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Casey Affleck, David Gyasi, Mackenzie Foy, David Oyelowo, Collette Wolfe, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn, Matt Damon, Timothée Chalamet, William Devane and the voices of Bill Irwin and Josh Stewart. Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan. Directed by Christopher Nolan. … Continue reading
Actor Jeff Bridges, Director Phillip Noyce Bring Lois Lowry’s Novel “The Giver” To Screens by Brad Balfour That it took two decades for the social science fiction book The Giver to be made into an effects-enhanced film well after The Hunger Games, Divergent, and other dystopian teen tales could be viewed either a blessing or … Continue reading
Billy Campbell and Jordan Hayes Take On a Pandemic in Helix by Jay S. Jacobs The Syfy Channel has high hopes for its new snowbound thriller series Helix. A shiny new variation of many science fiction nightmares has a mysterious and deadly disease – which may or may not be manmade – turning a bunch of scientists … Continue reading
Gravity There are certain films that you know are so well made that you feel that you should like them more than you do. For me, Gravity is one of those films. The movie is spectacular, disorienting, overwhelming and amazingly well put together. (It is particularly visually awe-inspiring in IMAX.) It’s also, I’m sorry, just … Continue reading
