Dennis D. McDonald (ddmcd@ddmcd.com)consults from Alexandria Virginia. His services include writing & research, proposal development, and project management.
When all is said and done this is a good movie that can be enjoyed for what it is: an intelligent and thrilling story, elegantly produced, with excellent acting and beautiful photography.
A lot has been written about the harrowing plane crash flight. Yep, it’s pretty harrowing, but I’ll still hold of World War Z, Numbers, and Pitch Black is having comparable crash sequences.
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?”
At first I was afraid this was going be a film of a stage production but it evolves into a series of dramatic tableaux featuring extraordinary lighting, costumes, and emotional histrionics straight out of Rembrandt’s paintings.
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.
Once more DVD technology comes through by making available an older film no longer in general theatrical release, this time Peter Jackson’s 1994 HEAVENLY CREATURES.
This animated tale about a young girl growing up in Iran during and after the Revolution as personal freedoms are inexorably removed is simultaneously touching and difficult to watch.
I’m a sucker for 18th Century costume dramas, especially if part of the time is spent in sailing ships. This one, despite being landlocked, is heads above most.
It’s a pleasure watching an intelligent adult film. It’s even better to see one that treats a difficult subject with great clarity despite underlying moral and legal ambiguities. Most of all, it’s great to see such a film with a great cast working from a great script.
I grew up with the science fiction of Clarke, Asimov, and Heinlein. At their best they wrestled with humans coming to terms with very large ideas and concepts in stories that spanned years and vast distances. I especially loved depictions of the far future.
One of the most mature, evocative, creative, and melodramatic movies I’ve seen all year is an animated film, directed by the same director (Satoshi Kon) as the realistic yet disappointing (to me) potboiler Perfect Blue and of the excellent Tokyo Godfathers.