E. Nielson

This highly dramatic film directed by Tom Hooper with a screenplay by Lucinda Coxon based on the book The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff details the life of one of first known recipients of sexual reassignment surgery. This film has been loosely based on the lives of Danish painters Einar Wegener later known as Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, his wife. Einar a successful landscape artist and Gerda a not so successful portrait artist until she asks Einar to pose as a female sub

John Crowley’s film is about as perfect a film as they come and I’ll want to see it again. Not since MOONSTRUCK have I left a theatre with such a sense of elation and pure joy. A beautiful screenplay was adapted by Nick Hornby from the novel of the same name by Colm Toibin detailing the story of one young woman’s immigration from Ireland to the United States. Without telling you too much about this story, it really shows the goodness in most people’s hearts along with how pet

Not since ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN back in 1976 have we had a film that captured the real life events of uncovering a true story of significant importance to our nation and in the case of this film, the world. Brilliantly directed by Tom McCarthy who also wrote the script with Josh Singer, this film centers on the Spotlight investigative team of reporters from the Boston Globe as they uncovered the sex abuse scandal involving priests of the Boston Archdiocese in 2002. As a pra

Paul McGuigan’s film with a screenplay by Max Landis based on Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN is a film as seen from the perspective of the character of Igor Strausman, Dr. Frankenstein’s assistant who in this take happens to be quite brilliant and highly ethical to boot. When he starts to object to the good doctor’s idea of playing God by trying to resurrect life from previously dead body parts is when the story both becomes interesting and starts to unravel. Filmed with an obvi

Ryan Coogler’s film is a continuation of the Rocky Balboa story but from the perspective of Apollo Creed’s son Adonis. The screenplay by Mr. Coogler and Aaron Covington and based on characters written by Sylvester Stallone is quite effective in it’s execution. By and large I was entertained and moved by what I saw on screen, frankly being totally swept up by the finale, which of course takes place in a boxing ring. The cast was excellent with Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed

Peter Sohm’s animated film from Disney/Pixar was much delayed when the original director Bob Peterson who came up with the idea for the film was replaced by Mr. Sohm in 2014. Though this is one of Pixar’s best looking films, it is not one of their best. Its intended audience is obviously children so I’ll try and review it from a child’s point of view. The picture’s main theme is about acceptance of one’s self and how society judges the outcasts among us. Of course you are de

This excellent biographical tale directed by Jay Roach and written by John McNamara (based on the biography Dalton Trumbo by Bruce Cook) details the period in Hollywood after the Second World War when the fear of Soviet Russia and the Communist party rocked our nation to its core. It tells the story of very successful screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, an avowed Communist but nevertheless a good American citizen and his being blacklisted when he refused to divulge names of fellow Co

Brian Helgeland directed this film from his own screenplay based on the book THE PROFESSION OF VIOLENCE by John Pearson and tells the true story of Ronnie Kray and his twin brother Reggie Kray and their eventual downfall in the gangster underworld of London in the 1960s. What this film has that is a true standout is a couple of extraordinary performances from Tom Hardy who plays both Kray brothers. It’s also to the credit of the new technology that this can be achieved withou

This film directed by France Lawrence based on the second half of the third novel in THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy by Suzanne Collins, comes to a very satisfying conclusion that should result in record breaking box office for it’s studio LIONSGATE. Though I wouldn’t call it a great film, I still enjoyed it’s execution with a fine cast headed by Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Donald Sutherland and Philip Seymour

This film directed by Billy Ray is based on the 2009 Argentine film THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES directed by Juan Jose Campanella which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film which in turn was based on the novel THE QUESTION IN THEIR EYES by Argentinian author Eduardo Sacheri. Though I have basically seen this story done many times before, particularly in TV movies, it is still compelling with an extraordinary set of actors led by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman and Julia R