THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY (2016)
Mathew Brown’s film and screenplay based on the 1991 book THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY by Robert Kanigel is based on the true story of Indian mathematician Srinvasa Ramanujan, who due to his self taught theories on mathematical theories earned admission to Cambridge University during World War I where under the guidance of his professor, G.H. Hardy, became a pioneer in the field where he is still influential to this day. This is a brilliant film that tackles the stifling English
MOTHER'S DAY (2016)
Garry Marshall’s film based on an original screenplay by Tom Hines, Anya Kochoff Romano and Matt Walker is essentially a rather formulaic movie that is so concerned with being politically correct while painting its characters as either being the racist conservatives or progressive liberals. The evil right wingers eventually come around to seeing things from a more progressive point of view, which is a bit off putting in that it's been done a million times before. While being
KEANU (2016)
Peter Atencio’s film based on a screenplay by Jordan Peele and Alex Rubens is one of those movies that starts off well but somehow gets out of control and expects its audience to accept a most ridiculous premise that is laced with extreme violence and sophomoric humor. Starring the comic duo Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key who are quite talented in and of themselves, it was not enough to rescue what is essentially a mess of a film.
GREEN ROOM (2016)
Jeremy Saulnier’s film from his own screenplay is a very well made thriller involving elements that American films rarely cover, punk rock and the neo-Nazi movement in this country. In addition to being extremely violent this would normally turn me off from the start but this film has such an oft-kilter side to it and the sense of realism is so intense that I’d have to say that it’s well worth your time if you have the stomach for these proceedings on screen. Under no circums
THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER'S WAR (2016)
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan’s film is both a prequel and sequel to SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN while combining elements of Hans Christian Anderson’s THE SNOW QUEEN into a screenplay written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin. Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Nick Frost and Sam Claflin reprise their roles from the first film while introducing new characters played by Emily Blunt, Rob Brydon and Jessica Chastain. The film seems to concentrate more on the characters played by Mr.
THE JUNGLE BOOK (2016)
Jon Favreau’s film based on the famous novel of the same name by Rudyard Kipling while keeping certain elements of the classic Disney animated film succeeds by staying truer to the original story and the help of truly dazzling visual effects. With a fine screenplay by Justin Marks, ninety nine percent of this film’s visuals are due to CGI (computer graphics imagery) with really the only live action being the character of Mowgli, very well played by Neel Sethi and a few villag
CRIMINAL (2016)
Ariel Vromen’s film is based on an original screenplay by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg that I found to be rousing entertainment with a plot that veres a bit into science fiction territory but none the less one I found to be fully believable and compelling. With the premise of being able to at least experimentally transfer a dead man’s memories into the mind of another provided the circumstances are feasible and correct was presented believably and incorporated into a story
JACKIE ROBINSON (2016)
Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon directed this magnificent documentary on Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the major leagues of baseball in our time. You do not need to be a fan of baseball to appreciate this film which is really about how the actions of two men, Branch Rickey who as General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers opened the door to Jackie in 1947 to play and the courage of Jackie Robinson to accept the opportunity presented to him in a
DEMOLITION (2016)
Jean-Marc Vallee’s film based on an original screenplay by Bryan Sipe is a story that details one man’s attempt to reconcile the tragedy of losing his wife and how to continue life as he knew it. Expertly played by Jake Gyllenhaal, he finds himself living a life devoid of any real happiness and seems to find release in destroying homes, first as part of a demolition team and then proceeding to destroy his own “perfect home.” Though I understood the reasoning he uses to a cert
THE BOSS (2016)
Ben Falcone’s film based on a screenplay that he co-wrote with Melissa McCarthy (who stars) and Steve Mallory is a picture that succeeds on some counts while failing in believability in others. Certainly an improvement over TAMMY, a film Ms. McCarthy co-wrote with Mr. Falcone a couple of years back, this picture essentially has a strong story line that delivers for the first half then seems to spin out of control in the final third, I never the less enjoyed it most of the ti