With an early 70s, down-home southern feel, Secretariat tells more than the story of the greatest ever racehorse. Most centrally, it connects us with the difference between …more »»
Film Talks: Most Recent
October 19, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
Zany, crazy, tongue-in-cheek, just a bit over-the-top and, in its irony, light-heartedly insightful. Thoroughly Modern Millie is, all-in-all, fun — and a good example of …more »»
September 30, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
“This is why I did that…it wasn’t so bad.” Insomnia, another fine piece of work directed by Christopher Nolan, cunningly explores self-justification from multiple angles. …more »»
July 28, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
What do you remember? Or, was it in a dream? Do you have reality straight in your mind? In your subconscious? The confluence of such questions is the space Inception perceptively explores. Part of the genius of Christopher Nolan’s writing and directing is …more »»
June 7, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
Smart, 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 »»
May 12, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
It is superficial to say that it’s heart-wrenching to lose a loved one in war — that is, unless you can say it the way that Grace is Gone says it. In the film, we live through a father’s shock at the death of Grace, his wife and the mother of his two preteen daughters. Why, you may well ask, …more »»
April 28, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
The Doorpost Film Project runs an annual short film competition. For 2010, it’s in three rounds. Based on their first round submissions, 21 filmmakers were selected to compete in the second round. Each of the 21 submits a script, five of which are chosen to …more »»
March 24, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
In Still Walking, we are treated to an excellent, deliberately paced, progressively revealed journey through a day with a Japanese family. The characters, through their own words and through the things said …more »»
March 6, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing // After viewing
An Unfinished Life is rich with diversity of relational contexts and emotional perspectives. In its exploration of forgiveness and responsibility, one central conflict is echoed and reflected in multiple …more »»
February 25, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
All ten of the 2010 Oscar Best Picture nominees are worth seeing, but for some, I recommend watching them only for specific reasons or under certain conditions. Three rise above the lot as particularly excellent films — …more »»
February 22, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
Have you had those times when nothing in life seems to fit? Times that you want the formula for how things work so you can try to fix them? A Serious Man is about that. But there’s more: watching the film puts you in that …more »»
February 20, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
As 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 »»
February 20, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
Charming, fun, and rich, Up takes us on an eventful animated ride watching the late-in-life transformation of Carl Fredricksen. Although the questions explored by the film are not particularly deep, Up’s creative coup …more »»
February 20, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
If you take pleasure in revenge and you choose to go on taking pleasure in it, Inglourious Basterds will give you plenty to feed your pleasure. I don’t want that to be me, yet there is truth in what the film …more »»
February 19, 2010 by Randy Heffner Before viewing
District 9 finds a compassionate — and violent — angle from which to explore shallow and ugly prejudice. As it pits the supposed goodness and wisdom of “the authorities” against the supposed brainlessness and vulgarity of …more »»
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