Dennis D. McDonald’s MOVIE REVIEWS
This section contains links to my occasional movie & DVD reviews. A complete index is here.
I’m glad I saw this film, it’s a pleasure to see something that’s grounded in reality but sufficiently fantastic to the point where the dividing line between the two becomes blurred.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 05:19AM in Drama, Fantasy, One of a Kind, Spouse Approved While watching this film I said to myself, “If I could make a movie this is the kind of movie I’d make.”
My first reaction, walking out of the theater after the credits, was to ask my wife, “How is it possible that the same guy who directed a terrifying movie like War of the Worlds could then go on to do something like LIncoln?”
Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at 01:24PM in Another Time & Place, Biography, Drama, History, Intelligent, War A young man, depressed, tries to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. Instead he washes up onto a small island in the middle of the river and is cut off from the city.
Director Caetano makes a beautiful gem of a movie out of worn out concepts:
Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 08:52AM in Drama Some of the words come to my mind while watching this film include:
Saturday, June 2, 2012 at 07:22AM in Drama, Fantasy, One of a Kind, Quirky As a parent of two twenty-somethings I watched this film with a growing sense of horror and wanted to reach out and slap some sense into the main character.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 01:00PM in Comedy, Drama, One of a Kind Exuberant, charming, and immensely entertaining, THE ARTIST tells ths story of a silent movie star in Hollywood whose career topples when talkies come along.
Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 07:47AM in Comedy, Drama, One of a Kind, Silent The wheels of life grind slowly for all of us. Occasionally they mesh and multiple bad things happen to otherwise ordinary, even nice people. It’s the luck of the draw, or maybe just fate. In the end, we suffer, but how we deal with adversity says a lot about who we are.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 11:28PM in Drama This courtroom drama follows the defense of Mary Surrat who operated the Washington DC boarding house where Abraham Lincoln’s assassins concocted their plot in 1865.
Monday, September 5, 2011 at 04:42PM in Drama, History, Intelligent This is one of the most emotionally engaging films I’ve ever seen. I’m not completely sure why.
Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 12:32PM in Cosmic, Drama, Fantasy, Intelligent, One of a Kind Unrelentingly grim, this movie follows a group of 14th Century soldiers as they seek out a remote village in the English countryside that is rumored to have been spared a visit by the bubonic plague.
The Ozark back country depicted in this film is one that Facebook and Twitter have ignored. Or maybe it’s the other way around.
Readers of my book and movie review will know about my occasional hankering for a Western. It’s no surprise I was looking forward to this movie especially given my positive reaction to my recent discovery of the novel.
Sunday, June 12, 2011 at 03:38PM in Action, Another Time & Place, Drama, Spouse Approved, Western What an extraordinary film this is. Visually it’s a feast; colors and clever framing delight the eye. The plot twists and turns. And Penélope Cruz positively glows in scene after scene.
Friday, January 21, 2011 at 05:02AM in Comedy, Drama, One of a Kind, Romantic In my book, Michael Caine can do no wrong — this vigilante movie is another example.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 09:19AM in Action, Crime, Drama, One of a Kind, Spouse Approved Following the success of Silence of the Lambs, movie and TV audiences have been treated to many pale imitations, most of which have failed to excite or provide any serious dramatic interest
I have no idea how factually accurate this movie about Emperor Hirohito’s emergence following Japan’s defeat in WWII is. As a movie, though, it is engrossing, thoughtful, and occasionally, visually dazzling.
Val Guest’s businesslike direction and matter-of-fact approach to depicting extraordinary circumstances in a near-documentary style here yield a still-watchable and very entertaining thriller that takes place in London in the early 1960’s.
Friday, July 16, 2010 at 04:24PM in Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Thriller Plot summary: * Devout priest volunteers for medical experiment * Becomes lustful vampire as a result * Sex/violence/building-hopping/tragedy/ensue