Winning the Toronto International Film Festival award proved to be a good omen for 12 Years a Slave, The Kings Speech and Slumdog Millionaire, as they went on to win best picture at the Academy Awards. The Imitation Game is based on the extraordinary true story of mathematician Alan Turing, whom Winston Churchill acknowledged contributed […]
There should never be any confusion about which films are by Wes Anderson. He is an auteur in every meaning of the word, as he has carved out a specific niche for his own distinctive creativity. Like a painter who reinvented brush strokes or a vocal artist with a special sound, Wes Anderson’s films are
This might be the first time Alexander Payne didn’t write the screenplay for a film he directed, but the Oscar winner’s handprint is still everywhere. Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) has become one of the most respected auteurs in the business with his ability to portray the most realistic type of characters on the screen. Bittersweet
The Coen Brothers are excellent story tellers and inventors of characters, whether or not you like the film as a whole. Inside Llewyn Davis would fit into that good but not great category. The most impressive elements here are Oscar Isaac’s magnificent voice and “prickly” character performance and the unusually unique minor characters the Coen’s
What appeared to me like a light hearted “human interest” story, as the film refers, is actually full of heart and quite emotional when it gets down to it. Philomena is based on an extraordinary true story that is partly worth telling due to the type of circumstances one just can’t make up. Oscar winner
To some extent a director is responsible for an actors good or bad performance, two years ago when both Christian Bale and Meslissa Leo won Oscars under David O. Russell’s direction for The Fighter it elevated him even further as an actor’s director. Disregarding Russell’s own craziness off camera, he has become a director, through