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 »»
Film Talks Tagged ‘Drama’
A Good Day to Die (1995)
by Randy Heffner — March 24, 2011In the intricate construction of its plot, A Good Day to Die sets up a number of questions about race and relationship — rich and worthy questions that get well beyond platitudes. By (mostly) avoiding simple stereotypes, the film’s …more »»
The Artist (2011)
by Randy Heffner — January 1, 2012The Artist is a silent film like few others — perhaps unlike any other. Simultaneously staying true to the genre and playing with it, director Michel Hazanavicius creatively employs silent film as one element of great storytelling and filmcraft — and manages to do so without falling into …more »»
Avatar (2009)
by Randy Heffner — January 15, 2010To a large degree, the environmental morality play contained in Avatar is painted in broad and simple strokes. Still, there is something compelling in the film’s embodiment of connection to and respect for the land. …more »»
Away We Go (2009)
by Randy Heffner — April 29, 2011With light-hearted seriousness, Away We Go romps us through a young couple’s search for life. Or, actually, their search is for a place to live, but of course there’s always a …more »»
Away We Go (2009)
by Randy Heffner — April 29, 2011The love at the center of Away We Go is a beautiful thing to see, particularly because of how Burt & Verona tolerate each other, and it’s their relationship that reaches out and grabs me from the film. It makes me want all the more to be the kind of person who …more »»
Batman Begins (2005)
by Randy Heffner — January 17, 2010Batman Begins is an superb example of what excellent screenwriting and directing can do for a familiar story. Batman can easily be (and has been) produced with simple action and black-and-white morality. Christopher Nolan …more »»
Batman Begins (2005)
by Randy Heffner — January 17, 2010Watching Batman Begins, seeing Bruce Wayne’s internal struggle to find the right response to evil, and seeing the contrast with Ducard’s definition of justice, I want to find a clearer and better response to the offenses …more »»
The Big Kahuna (1999)
by Randy Heffner — June 1, 2009The Big Kahuna insightfully explores the nature of true concern for another individual in the context of friend-to-friend banter, interactions with coworkers, personal crisis, and Christian evangelism. …more »»
The Big Kahuna (1999)
by Randy Heffner — June 1, 2009I came away from The Big Kahuna with a stronger desire to be sensitive enough to see another’s pain, to get to know them where they are, and to show them …more »»
Black Swan (2010)
by Randy Heffner — December 19, 2010Black 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 »»
The Blind Side (2009)
by Randy Heffner — February 20, 2010As a true story, the strength of The Blind Side is that it could have been embellished oh so much, but it was not. I suspect that no film adaptation of a true story is ever 100% factual, and I expect that’s the case …more »»
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
by Randy Heffner — June 7, 2010Smart, funny, satirical, and engaging in its exploration of art and artists, Bullets Over Broadway is an excellent piece of work by director Woody Allen. Centering around the funding, preparation, and staging of a Broadway play, the film …more »»
Cold Souls (2009)
by Randy Heffner — September 7, 2009Cold Souls is great as a light yet insightful exploration of the nature of the soul and its relationship to us as humans. Paul Giamatti is rehearsing for the lead in Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya. The problem is, …more »»
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
by Randy Heffner — March 27, 2011What drives a wayward son to be wayward? What is waywardness, really? Cool Hand Luke hides these questions in every frame, and it’s not always clear who is the wayward one. This uncertainty gives the film a broad and deep question-richness that sets us nicely into a mode of …more »»
