movie reviews – Page 61 – Unhealed Wound

“North Face” (Nordwand) (2008)–The Ogre of the Alps

Written by diana on June 17, 2014. Posted in movie reviews.

Based on a true story, “North Face” is a suspenseful adventure film about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps. Set in 1936 as Nazi Germany urges the nation’s mountain climbers to conquer the unclimbed north face – the Eiger (“Ogre” in German) – two reluctant German...

“Cold in July”–Left this viewer cold too

Written by diana on June 10, 2014. Posted in movie reviews.

“Cold in July” is the first film that Michael C. Hall has starred in following his tremendous performance as “Dexter”. In addition, Sam Shepard appears as a Texan out for revenge for his ex-con son who has disappeared. But neither of these fine actors can save this movie. The story is...

“Palo Alto”–Typically “Shallow Alto”?

Written by diana on June 4, 2014. Posted in movie reviews. 1 Comment on “Palo Alto”–Typically “Shallow Alto”?

I really, really wanted to like this movie, filmed on the street where we lived for almost twenty years. I gave it every hall pass I could, especially since I think James Franco is a gifted actor, writer and artist. Still, this is not a movie worth seeing. The narrative focuses on shy, bored April (Emma Roberts), who comes from a...

“Belle”–Ringing for Justice

Written by diana on May 26, 2014. Posted in movie reviews. 5 Comments on “Belle”–Ringing for Justice

Of the many movies involving slave trade, films like “Belle”, “12 Years a Slave” and “Amistad” attempt to view the atrocities of slavery from the perspective of a slave or, in the case of Belle, an illegitimate daughter of a British nobleman, Admiral Sir John Lindsay (in a brief role by Matthew...

“Nebraska” –A Husky Tale in the Cornhusker State

Written by diana on May 14, 2014. Posted in movie reviews. 4 Comments on “Nebraska” –A Husky Tale in the Cornhusker State

In Alexander Payne’s Academy Award-nominated black-and-white drama, we see the story of a parent with unfulfilled dreams who has damaged adult children who care deeply but are also deeply wounded. A companion piece to “August: Osage County” (see my review January 29, 2014). The film opens with Woody Grant (Bruce Dern in the...

“Philomena”–The Story of a Mother’s Loss

Written by diana on May 4, 2014. Posted in movie reviews, Unhealed Wound. 1 Comment on “Philomena”–The Story of a Mother’s Loss

It has been almost eleven years after the groundbreaking and award-winning film “The Magdalene Sisters” (2002), a fictionalized drama based on three young Irish women who survive the dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum, one of many that existed in Ireland and other parts of the Catholic world in the...