Runtime: 2 hours, 13 minutes Rating: PG-13 Director: Paul Greengrass Quick Impressions: The theatrical trailer for Captain Phillips has been stressing me out for weeks now. Every time I see it, my stomach ties in knots. That moment when Barkhad Abdi says, “I am the captain now,” sends shivers down my spine …
Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes Rating: PG-13 Director: Alfonso Cuarón Quick Impressions: I’ve been so excited about watching this movie that I bought advance tickets in 3D and considered putting in my contact lenses. (That’s when you know the film is something special because in the fall, the leaves turn …
Runtime: 2 hours, 3 minutes Rating: R Director: Ron Howard Quick Impressions: I still want to see Don Jon for two big reasons: 1.) Joseph Gordon-Levitt never makes a bad movie, and now that he’s written and directed one himself, I’d like to support him as thanks for all the times his …
Runtime: 2 hours, 33 minutes Rating: R Director: Denis Villeneuve Quick Impressions: Prisoners is one of the darkest movies that I’ve seen in a long time, and (rather surprisingly given its nightmarish premise) it’s also one of the most cerebral. For months, I’ve been feeling conflicted about the previews. On the …
Runtime: 1 hour, 51 minutes Rating: R Director: Luc Besson Quick Impressions: Back in college, my friends and I all went to see Luc Besson’s The Messenger. I may have been the only one who liked it—in the entire world. (No, just kidding. But I do remember the film getting …
Runtime: 1 hour, 59 minutes Rating: R Director: David Twohy Quick Impressions: Last night I dreamed that Cate Blanchett’s character from Blue Jasmine was walking through a dark cave with some guys wearing futuristic gear. Suddenly, Jasmine froze and inhaled sharply. For some reason, the man next to her slit her throat. …
Runtime: 1 hour, 38 minutes Rating: PG-13 Director: Woody Allen Quick Impressions: Every year I feel the autumn arrive as the angle of the sunlight falling on me begins to change. By the time I was a freshman in college, my annual fall depression didn’t take me by surprise anymore. …
Runtime: 1 hour, 49 minutes Rating: R Director: Edgar Wright Quick Impressions: I’ve been very excited for the final chapter of the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy (aka the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy) since before I realized that there was a Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy. Don’t get me wrong. I …
Runtime: 2 hours, 12 minutes Rating: PG-13 Director: Lee Daniels Quick Impressions: Why aren’t “true” stories ever true anymore? I wish there were a real man named Cecil Gaines who survived a traumatic childhood event to become a White House butler serving under Presidents Eisenhower-Reagan. I wish Cecil Gaines had …
Runtime: 1 hour, 49 minutes Rating: R Director: Neill Blomkamp Quick Impressions: “Tempt not a desperate man.” I’ve read Romeo and Juliet far more times than I’ve seen Baz Luhrmann’s version, but for some reason, during most of Elysium’s big action scenes set on Earth, I kept hearing Leonardo DiCaprio’s voice screaming out desperately, “Tempt …
