With 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 »»
Film Talks: Most Recent
March 27, 2011 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
What 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 »»
March 24, 2011 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
In 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 »»
February 5, 2011 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
Oscar 2011 has a superb set of ten Best Picture nominees. Aside from certain content awareness advisories for most of the films, I can, without reservation, say that all ten are are worth seeing. This means that there are really none of them that are …more »»
January 5, 2011 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
The pace and energy of The King’s Speech is driven by characters and their relationships, not by events and action. On the surface, the film is about a powerful man overcoming a personal weakness, but what’s more important …more »»
December 31, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
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 »»
December 28, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
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 »»
December 20, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
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 »»
December 19, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
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 »»
December 18, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
Dodging the dangers of sequeldom, Toy Story 3 is plain fun to watch as it takes us through a familiar landscape of toys and joys and tears and fears. We know, from the first two films in the series, most of the characters and the general territory of …more »»
December 1, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
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 »»
November 30, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
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 »»
November 25, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
As an entertaining mystery flick, The Ghost Writer has some things going for it — government intrigue, mysterious figures, hidden back-stories, etc. — but I didn’t find it to really …more »»
November 21, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
Please Give mixes together an ensemble of stories, mostly about relationships and money. It’s a study in contrasts, with (typically) just enough exaggeration to bring out …more »»
November 14, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
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 »»
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