Romantic comedies that contain supernatural elements aren’t exactly the norm this day and age. It is an interesting hybrid but it just isn’t seen very often. The charming indie The One I Love does manage to strike this offbeat balance and the results are actually pretty decent. Producer and star Mark Duplass (Safety Not Guaranteed, The Puffy Chair) and Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, Listen Up Philip) form a cute pair in this film and the on-screen adventure they share is definitely worth checking out.
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The Way He Looks
Love stories these days are rarely done right. Obnoxious pop songs and syrupy performances seem to be all the rage and that’s very unfortunate. Heartfelt stories seem to have been replaced by juvenile antics and empty scripts. Luckily, however, there is the occasional romantic film that scores big and hits all the right notes. The new Brazilian gem The Way He Looks is one such film and it is a sweet, tender and genuine coming-of-age tale about three friends and the natural awkwardness that comes with teenhood.
The Better Angels
Abraham Lincoln’s life has been depicted on screen many, many times. He is one history’s most noble individuals and one of America’s greatest leaders. His time as President is marked as one of the nation’s most pivotal eras and he will be forever engraved in the collective consciousness of mankind. The new film The Better Angels doesn’t examine Lincoln’s life as a gifted lawyer and politician but as a young boy, struggling to survive in a humble beginning and finding acceptance and love from a stern father, who wants the best for his family but shows it in a harsh way.
Gut
Independent films are quickly becoming the new mainstream. Movies that feature amateur actors, relatively unknown filmmakers and low budgets are so commonplace that there are almost as much of them as there are standard Hollywood big budget productions. The indie psychological thriller Gut is a good example of this and while the film is full of indie-esque qualities, it could have very well been an expensive star-studded affair. The actors in it aren’t of the highest caliber and the direction is a bit underwhelming at times but the story is solid and the emotions the film elicits are pretty decent.
Interview with Kal Penn (Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain)
Actor Kal Penn is known for a great many things. His stoner adventures in the Harold and Kumar film series are without a doubt, his most notable works. He’s actually also on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities under Barack Obama. With his busy schedule, he even finds time and currently stars in the new drama Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain, a film which explores the Bhopal chemical disaster which occurred in India 30 years ago. Mr. Penn was nice enough to speak with me about the very important film and it was truly enlightening, to say the least:
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Missionary
Obsession is usually a very effective subject for thriller films. Just look at Fatal Attraction and Misery. Unrequited love or an uneven admiration for someone can cause extreme tension and in some instances, danger. The new thriller Missionary takes obsession to new heights and it is a film full of all the creepiness and violence that usually comes with stalker fare. It takes obsession to pretty extreme heights and the results are not only frightening but genuinely entertaining.
Hit by Lightning
Jon Cryer is, for all intensive purposes, a pretty funny guy. His character Duckie in the 1986 John Hughes classic Pretty in Pink coupled with his long-running role as Alan Harper on Two and a Half Men are the man’s most notable works. He always plays nerdy and naïve sidekicks who sadly don’t always get what they want (especially the girl). Cryer continues to play this type of role in the small yet charming dark comedy Hit by Lightning, a Canadian export that actually borrows heavily from other films before it. That being said, it isn’t terrible. It just has an overall average quality about it.
Stonehearst Asylum
Mental illness is something covered in film pretty extensively. The human mind is so complex that those who are considered “insane” provides for some of the very best of cinema. The new thriller Stonehearst Asylum tackles the subject of insanity in a very dark and at times, disturbing way. The film has a fantastic cast and a gritty feel and originality that few thrillers these days possess. That originally, however, stems from Edgar Allan Poe whose short story The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether serves as Stonehearst Asylum’s primary inspiration.
1,000 Times Good Night
The line between work and family is tight rope to walk sometimes. What comes first and what’s top priority? Sure, family might seem like the more important of the two but for some people, that simply isn’t the case. The new Irish-Norwegian drama 1,000 Times Good Night explores this subject very well and not only is it crucial issue to examine, it offers a chance for film star Juliette Binoche to play a character who is troubled and caught between what she loves to do and the strong concern her family has for her.
Viktor
Revenge thrillers have become so overdone and so formulaic that they barely hold water these days. Ever since Liam Neeson decided to fight back against his daughter’s captors in 2008’s immensely popular Taken, audiences have been thirsting for similar action fare ever since. The concept of a middle-aged man kicking ass seems to be a very appealing premise for many moviegoers and studios seem to be capitalizing on this phenomenon more and more. Famed French actor Gerard Depardieu has joined this bandwagon with the latest action-thriller Viktor and the results are lukewarm at best.
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