You have to be a little nuts to want to climb Mt. Everest. It’s a good kind of nuts; the kind that’s sent people to the moon and the bottom of the ocean, but it’s still nuts. I don’t think that mindset of the climbers and of the hardships involved in actually following in the footsteps of Sir Edmund Hillary and summitting Everest have ever been better captured than in the self-titled film. However, if you go past the surface of the film, there are problems, the depth of which really depends on what you want or are expecting the film to deliver. Continue reading Movie Review: Everest (2015) *Towering Adventure Still Runs A Bit Shallow*→
Life, though it flies past, is rather packed with moments and memories. For great men and women, I would only imagine that it’s even more of a blur. It’s almost impossible to capture the scope of a life in two hours, hence the biopic is often a hit or miss endeavor. The best of them pick a through-line. One seam in the stratum of a life and use it to show the person as a whole. In examining the life of renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, The Theory of Everything does this remarkably well. Continue reading Movie Review: The Theory of Everything (2014) *Mild Spoilers*→
Bittersweet news for fans of HBO’s The Newsroom as the network has confirmed the Aaron Sorkin drama has been renewed for a third season, but it will be the show’s last. The Newsroom has met with mixed reviews from critics, though Jeff Daniels did pick up a surprise Emmy for his portrayal of the show’s anchor. Anyone who’s followed the blog knows that I’m a huge fan of Sorkin’s work. The first season of the show, which is the only I’ve seen so far, was slow to build on the sterling pilot (which contains possibly the greatest rant in television history) but was brilliant in spots and had hit its stride by season’s end. The positive point in this is that Sorkin will probably be writing another movie soon. Full press release from HBO after the break: Continue reading Newsroom renewed for a third and final season→
The first trailer is out for The Book Thief, Brian Percival‘s adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Markus Zusak. The film stars Geoffery Rush, Emily Watson and Sophie Nelisse. It is the story of a young girl sent to live with a new family in World War IIGermany who begins stealing books in order to prevent them from the Nazi‘s book burnings. The book, at least, is narrated by Death. I’m not sure if it will use that framing device for the film, but I don’t see anyone credited as Death on IMDB, so probably not. The Book Thief opens on November 15, 2013.
