by Cory Woodroof | Sep 9, 2011 | News Slider
WARNING If you choose to see Contagion this weekend, you might consider bringing a travel size bottle of hand sanitizer. You can thank me later. Contagion joins the league of “possible disaster scenario” films. In a very straightforward manner, the film examines what would happen if a new strain of virus was to hit the human race. The story follows a few key individuals and their experiences through the state of disaster that the virus causes. Remember the Swine Flu scare of 2009? The situation created in Contagion takes that indecency and makes it look like a schoolyard scuffle. Director Steven Soderbergh has crafted a smart, engaging, and at times, all-too-chilling look at a world in hysteria. Plot-wise, we are given a multi-storyline layout. Matt Damon plays a grief-stricken father who, alongside his daughter, must endure the hardships of the disease when his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) and stepson succumb to the disease (a few of the first to do so). The film also follows Laurence Fishburne as a CDC official who works alongside Kate Winslet’s doctor character to stop the spread of the disease state- side. Marion Cotillard (Mal from Inception) plays a foreign doctor who has her own storyline I won’t spoil here. Jude Law also has a large role as a conspiracy-theorist/blogger who gains a large following once the disease breaks out. Another storyline follows a team of researchers who search for the cure. The cast in this film features many A-list talents, but don’t be fooled. This is not a film that showcases its stars frequently. Soderbergh wisely lets the narrative use the characters as it...
by Cory Woodroof | Sep 7, 2011 | News Slider, Opinion
I think it’s safe to say the day of the video store has sadly come to an end. While I always enjoyed looking around a Blockbuster from time to time, I must admit the convenience of a Redbox is a nice luxury to have, especially as a college student. The one-dollar a night rental service hosts many new releases every week, and on occasion, will bring back an older movie for good measure. Redbox machines are located all over the Middle Tennessee area. As long as you don’t forget to turn your movie back the next day, Redbox is a wonderful, inexpensive way to find enjoyment during the down-time of college. But don’t you just hate it when you Redbox a movie that really isn’t to your liking? It may be just a dollar wasted, but these days, a dollar wasted is exactly that. I’ve decided to contribute a weekly REDBOX REPORT that highlights one or two new releases that gain the full approval of my cinematic taste. And trust me, I have good taste. So before you make a trip to the Redbox this week, check out these recommendations. RIO (G, 96 minutes-featuring the voice cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, and George Lopez) I don’t know about you, but I love a good animated movie now and then. I immediately found Rio to be extremely worthy of my time back when I saw it in late April. The film has a light, breezy feel that flows throughout the runtime. The animation is beautiful, especially in Rio de Janeiro, the voice cast is great, and the...
by Hunter Patterson | Jul 23, 2011 | News Slider
How about this? Take a World War II movie, crank up the action with effects and CGI and then give the focal point of the movie some steroids. If you do all those things, you’ll end up with Captain America: The First Avenger. While it is a fun movie, it lacks depth and that sense of deep, sophisticated storytelling that most of the Marvel movies have. That is not to say that it is too fast for one to understand what is going on, but in certain scenes that would require some emotion to grasp, the film sidesteps it. However, the movie is still about one of America’s first superheroes. During the World War II era there were less shades of grey. America was at war, and the enemy was truly evil. To battle that, America needed ideals and heroes that were truly good. It is against that backdrop that the film is built around. There are good superheroes, and there are bad villains. And because of that setting, we can put our modern cynicism aside and appreciate goodness and heroism for what it really is. Captain America’s (Steve Rogers) nemesis in the film is a Johann Schmidt, a Nazi better known as Red Skull. Contrasting the very good looking Captain Rogers, the ugly as sin Red Skull is a near perfect villain on the screen. Of course with any other Marvel film there is plenty of humor to go around. The bulk of the jokes come from Tommy Lee Jones. Jones’ character, Colonel Chester Phillips makes most of the jokes in rapid-fire mode while pre-transformation Rogers is still...
by Tara Knott | Jul 16, 2011 | News Slider
Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Invisibilty cloaks. Butterbeer. These are the images most people conjure up in their minds when they think about Harry Potter. But as Neville Longbottom says in the eighth and final installment of the film series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” Hogwarts has changed. Before the title appears on the screen, the camera zooms in on Voldemort thrusting his wand into the air and casting the Warner Brothers logo into the sky, letting the audience know from the beginning that the tone of this movie is much more sinister. Most of the film takes place at night or on overcast, gloomy days, and the darkness hangs like a pall over the theater as Harry, Ron and Hermione hunt down Voldemort. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson turn in their strongest performances of the series in this film. At one point, Ron and Hermione share a passionate, relief-fueled kiss after a brush with death in the Chamber of Secrets. Grint and Watson’s comedic timing is so spot on, the audience can’t help but smile. And when Harry realizes he’s ready to die if that’s what it takes to save his friends, Daniel Radcliffe looks like he’s aged a decade in three minutes. But the trio can’t carry this movie alone, and the supporting cast complements them perfectly. Maggie Smith absolutely kills it as Professor Minerva McGonagall, adding some levity to the heavy film with her subtle, knowing smirk. As she works her magic to bring some stone guards to life and they begin leaping over her head, she says, “I’ve always wanted...
by despotmj | Jun 17, 2011 | News Slider
Playing this past weekend at Belmont’s black-box theatre was John Patrick Shanley’s “Sailor’s Song”, a story which presents themes of love, regret and loss that can transcend even the most novice of theatre goers. “Sailor’s Song” was by the Actors Bridge Ensemble, a local theatre group which includes well-known Nashvillian Brent Maddox, as well as Lipscomb’s theatre professor Robyn Berg. Providing additional talent is Actors Equity Association member Bill Feehely, as well as Jessika Malone and Carrie Gerow. The production was a dark comedy which features a character named Rich (Maddox) visiting a small, coastal town to comfort his grieving Uncle John (Feehely), as his wife is about to pass away. While in town, Rich becomes involved in a love tangle with two sisters named Lucy (Berg) and Joan (Malone). As with any love triangle, there is a vast emotional difference between the two women involved. Lucy is a sensitive, caring woman, ready to help Rich find happiness, while her sister is a medium who finds her arm possessed by an unsettled soul which causes her to constantly write the ghost’s thoughts from beyond. Throughout the performance Rich is forced to examine the path of his life as he watches his Uncle John coping, yet seemingly unaffected by the passing of his wife. John is a foul-mouthed seasoned fisherman who seems disconnected from emotion due to his many years spent at seas, choosing rather to live in a life of what could have been. This provides a very palpable and heated relationship between John and Rich, as Rich is living in a life of what could be, rather than...
