MOVIE REVIEW: DUNKIRK

Acclaimed auteur Christopher Nolan directs this World War II thriller about the evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk before Nazi forces can take hold. Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance co-star, with longtime Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer providing the score. ~ Daniel Gelb, Rovi

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, James D'Arcy

Release Date: Jul 21, 2017

Rated PG-13 for intense war experience and some language

Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama

Review:

Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk is an impressive achievement, a sprawling war epic taken from multiple viewpoints.  After Interstellar, a rare misstep from Nolan, it’s good to see the director try something new.  What he delivers an interesting and engaging non liner story told from different viewpoints and perspectives.  As such it gives you a well rounded viewpoint, from the ground, air and sea, of the events as they unfold.  The characters are fairly simplistic but they serve the story well with Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy and Fionn Whitehead all deliver strong performances even though their scenes are about as bare bones as they come.  Nolan’s film is more about the event than the actual people so they’re not really a huge emphasis on unearned dramatics.  It’s a big sweeping film which shows off Nolan’s technical prowess throughout.  Is it the greatest war film ever made, probably not, it’s probably not Nolan’s best film, The Prestige still holds that honor, but it’s a impressive none the less.

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: HITCHCOCK

HITCHCOCK



Director Sacha Gervasi adapts Stephen Rebello's book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho to explore the relationship between the legendary British director (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren), who played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in the making of her husband's terrifying 1960 classic Psycho. Scarlett Johansson co-stars as Janet Leigh and James D'Arcy portrays Anthony Perkins in a film also featuring Jessica Biel, Danny Huston, Toni Collette, and Ralph Macchio. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Sacha Gervasi

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, James D'Arcy

Release Date: Nov 23, 2012

Rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content and thematic material

Runtime: 1 hr. 38 min.

Genres: Drama

Review:

Hitchcock takes a fun and lighthearted look into the trials, tribulation and machinations of the making of one his seminal films. Sasha Gervasi, helming his first non documentary film, makes it feel like we are watching a sort of accurate cliff notes version of what actually happened. As such he keeps it from being overly dry, allowing his cast to relish in their roles. Anthony Hopkins, under heavy prosthetics which work with varying degrees of effectiveness, delivers one of his better performances in a good while. He can’t hide his singular voice but occasionally he does get the tenor of Hitch down perfectly. Hopkins allows us to see various sides of Hitch, his obsessive controlling nature along with his voyeuristic tendencies. Helen Mirren makes a good match for Hopkins as Alma, Hitchcock’s long suffering wife/collaborator. Mirren takes on the meaty role and she shares a steady effective chemistry with Hopkins and they play out the collaborative but dysfunctional relationship the couple shared. Both can carry a scene easily and are given plenty of chances to shine. Supporting players like Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Toni Collette, Danny Huston and James D’Arcy, doing an impressive turn as Anthony Perkins, all do solid work filling out the film. The film ends on a tad bit too much of a happy note for my taste. A good companion piece to follow up with is the recent HBO film The Girl, which covered the making of The Birds, with a very effective Toby Jones playing a creepier Hitch as he tormented Tippi Hedren played by Sienna Miller.

B+