Kate Winslet

‘Triple 9’ is a frustrating near-miss that falters beneath the weight of its own ambitions.

Bolstered by the best script of 2015 and masterful performances from Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet, director Danny Boyle’s propulsive character study is a fascinating glimpse at the evolution of a cult icon.

Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) divides this character study of contentious public figure Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) between three product launches, focusing on key pressure-cooker moments of his career that portray him at his most capable and least compassionate.

‘Insurgent’ has the emotional intensity of androids reciting an instruction manual. There’s nothing new to see here, and it’s delivered in the most listless fashion possible. Even for a sci-fi soap opera, Insurgent feels lazy and uninspired.

30. Sense and Sensibility Directed by: Ang Lee Ang Lee has gone in about eight different directions in terms of genre. His resume includes “The Ice Storm,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Hulk,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Life of Pi,” and this delightful Jane Austen adaptation, starring Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, and young Kate Winslet. “Sense …

Revolutionary Road Written by Justin Haythe and based on a novel by Richard Yates Directed by Sam Mendes USA, 2008 Marriage is a two-way street. The union of a man and woman is basically a tug of war and it is a battle fought in many arenas. One arena is the suburbs and while a …

Divergent Written by Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor Directed by Neil Burger USA, 2014 The price of movie stardom in the 21st century for young women involves headlining a big-budget young-adult-novel adaptation; so now, it’s time for Shailene Woodley to prove her mettle against peers like Kristen Stewart and Jennifer Lawrence. With her past work …

Labor Day Written and directed by Jason Reitman USA, 2013 It’s all too fitting that, at one point midway through Labor Day, two of the lead characters are sitting in front of a TV, watching a network broadcast of Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This film’s writer-director, Jason Reitman, no …

The most unsettling element of Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion (which is, by any metric, a deeply discomfiting film) is its plausibility. The film has a clinical approach that underlines how possible its central crisis is and how powerless we would be to stop it. The film has a global scope and an all-star cast, but what resonates most is the idea that this could happen. Anywhere. Anytime. To any one of us.

Labor Day is far darker and perilous than writer/director Jason Reitman’s previous fare. Illness, broken hearts, and tragedy take center stage. Characters are not coddled and nothing feels ironic. Judging from this outing, drama may suit Reitman better than the snappy, sardonic exchanges we’ve gotten used to from him. Kate Winslet plays Adele, a woman long ago drained of love for the world, raising a son that wants to believe that a pure, transformative and truly supportive love exists for his mother. Into their lives enters Frank (Josh Brolin), an escaped convict who takes them hostage and back to their home to wait out the heat from the cops. Brought together by circumstance, what develops between the three of them is something surprising, rich, and strange.

Author Veronica Roth’s award-winning Divergent Trilogy found its movie rights being snapped up before the series reached completion. Filming of the first novel, titled Divergent, is already underway, with direction from Neil Burger, working with a script from Evan Daugherty and Vanessa Taylor. Shailene Woodley takes the lead role, joined onscreen by Zoe Kravitz, Jai …

Movie anthologies have seen a rise in recent years, with several filmmakers collaborating on a series of short films, often with a common theme running through them, such as all being set in the same city, or all belonging to the same genre. The latest addition to this entry is Movie 43, which features a …

Titanic Written and directed by James Cameron USA, 1997 A Night to Remember Written by Eric Ambler Directed by Roy Ward Baker UK, 1958 Marking the 100th anniversary of the disaster, the two most famous films about the Titanic sinking have received the restoration and re-release treatment, albeit one of them on a much grander …

In 1997, I was a high school student when James Cameron’s blockbuster Titanic was released. As I was in an all-girls school, Leomania was off the charts. For a good six months, everyone was talking about how good the film was and how hot Leonardo DiCaprio looked. Now, a good 15 years later, Titanic is …

Carnage Directed by Roman Polanski Written by Roman Polanski and Yasmina Reza 2011, France/Germany/Spain Roman Polanski has made his first comedy since 1972’s What?, and it’s very funny.  Comedy is the easiest and the hardest genre to review.  The biggest question is how many laughs does the film contain, but you have to pinpoint why …

Carnage Directed by Roman Polanski Written by Roman Polanski (screenplay), Yasmina Reza (play) 2011, France Carnage is a lean story about a group of people who cannot leave an apartment. Sometimes they manage to go into an alternate room, even as far as getting into an elevator, but somehow each person is pulled together again. …

On January 25, 2007, Onion A.V. Club critic Nathan Rabin inadvertently added a phrase to the movie lexicon. One that would eventually get it’s own Wikipedia page and it’s own NPR story. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl. In his review of Elizabethtown, Rabin said the following of Kirstin Dunst’s character: “Dunst embodies a character type I like to call The Manic Pixie Dream Girl (see Natalie Portman in Garden State for another prime example). The Manic Pixie Dream Girl exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is an all-or-nothing-proposition. Audiences either want to marry her instantly (despite The Manic Pixie Dream Girl being, you know, a fictional character) or they want to commit grievous bodily harm against them and their immediate family.”

Originally Posted in Creative Loafing Tampa. Very few filmmakers are known for their casting power. Woody Allen may be one of the best. He is always great at getting Hollywood’s biggest movie stars and the latest indie up and comers into his films (and with perfect timing). He worked with Sally Hawkins and Samantha Morton right …