Monthly Archives: December 2013

I first noticed her as the bartender/cynical mother confessor to Paul Newman in the comedy “Nobody’s Fool.” And Margo Martindale’s been making a big impression ever since. Like her fellow Actor’s Theatre of Louisville pal KAthy Bates, Martindale has found … Continue reading →

If you wanted to wait a bit to see “Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” so you could miss the rush, this is the weekend for you. It’s fallen off big time. So much that “Frozen” may edge it at the box … Continue reading →

It’s not cleaning up at the early awards presentations, so the acclaim for “Inside Llewyn Davis,” the Coen Brothers’ brooding, dark comedy set in the early 1960s folk music scene of Greenwich Village, hasn’t been rapturous or universal. But reviews … Continue reading →

In posters, comic books and in “girlie magazines,” hers was a truly iconic image — jet black hair, bangs, and a beaming, accessible smile that said “girl next door” even if those nude or semi-nude poses screamed “BAD girl next … Continue reading →

An aged professor stops a young woman from leaping off a Swiss bridge. She disappears, leaving behind only her bright red coat and a moving, poetic, 40 year old book — in Portuguese. Thus begins “Night Train to Lisbon,” an … Continue reading →

Memories of “The Deer Hunter” creep in long before the deer hunt in “Out of the Furnace.” Co-writer/director Scott Cooper’s ambitious, impressionistic and confused ode to steel belt machismo, code, family and revenge. Cooper’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning “Crazy Heart” … Continue reading →

“Twice Born” is an old-fashioned war romance with all the sexing up and complications we expect in newer entries in this genre. Overlong, with stars who don’t have a lot of chemistry, but packed with third-act surprises, this Bosnian War … Continue reading →

He’s got a reputation for smart, insightful and bitingly funny films that push the boundaries of narrative (“Being John Malkovich,” “Adaptation” “Where the Wild Things Are”). And his new film, “Her,” is out there as well — the story of … Continue reading →

For about 30 minutes, “The Last Days on Mars” hides its sci-fi antecedents well enough.The desert-scapes of Jordan make for a passable Red Planet, the production designed space suits, space habitats (rocket fuselages) and six-wheeled rovers are convincing enough.Then a … Continue reading →