Pierced to the Heart

In True Grit, the Coen brothers have created an engaging portrayal with themes of honor and expedience, justice and revenge, age and experience, and, well, okay I’ll say it: grit and determination. I’ll leave to others comparisons with the 1969 John Wayne version and …more »»

While it’s true that The Fighter tells a familiar sounding story — boxer overcomes odds — still it finds important underexplored territory. Mixing scenes of trust, betrayal, family pressure, family pride, manipulation, forgiveness, fear, failure, …more »»

Although some will immediately focus on the fact that The Kids Are All Right depicts a family headed by two married lesbians, I want to set that aside and consider the merits of the film on other concerns. Many of the questions the film explores are …more »»

Black Swan is dark, difficult, nuanced, intense, and strong. Searching the performer’s heart, the film finds joy and confusion, confidence and fear, passion and reserve, freedom and bondage, competitiveness and timidness. At the same time, Black Swan …more »»

127 Hours is an intense but important film. As basically a one-man show (with flashbacks involving additional characters), it provides an in-depth exploration of a person left alone with …more »»

It’s a engaging tale, The Social Network, and well-told: Jilted lover thinks of revenge, scramble for a good business idea, corporate intrigue, broken relationships. It all could be quite stereotypical, and …more »»

The opening of Winter’s Bone is exquisitely crafted to draw us slowly in from the lightness of country children playing on a trampoline to the core tension of the story. The contrast lends great effect …more »»