If you’re an action hero, pulling off daring rescues and badass escapes is just another day at the office. The rescue has been the prototypical action scene since humans have been able to put pen to paper. From Tarzan swinging in on a vine to Iron Man flying in on his jets, a hero isn’t …
Lone Survivor Written and directed by Peter Berg USA, 2013 The most unsettling moment in Lone Survivor, upon reflection, is its opening shot, one that mirrors the first moments of the extended long-take beginning of Gravity, albeit in a more Earthbound fashion. The former is a static shot of bleak, dry land in Afghanistan as …
As with any year, some people have begun arguing that 2013 was a bad year for film, because of the expected glut of effects-heavy blockbusters that litter the multiplexes each summer, or because there was a lack of auteur-driven storytelling for the majority of the year. Though it is indeed frustrating that studios hold their …
Tom Hanks has reached an important turning point in his career, and if Captain Phillips is any indication, we may not have to worry about him taking the wrong path. There is the path of least resistance and effort, the path of once-great acting titans like Robert de Niro and Al Pacino, who have replaced quality with quantity. De Niro and Pacino still have talent within them, burrowed beneath all the cash-grabs, as do other actors reaching AARP status, like Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford.
In 2009, the U.S. container vessel Maersk Alabama, while transporting food cargo bound for Mombasa, was hijacked by a group of rebel Somali pirates. Captain Phillips examines the events that transpired on that fateful day in this intelligent geopolitical thriller, done so exquisitely by former legendary documentarian Paul Greengrass.