12 September
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THE GOLDFINCH Director: John CrowleyStarring: Oakes Fegley, Ansel Elgort, Finn Wolfhard, Nicole Kidman, Jeffrey Wright, Luke Wilson, Sarah Paulson, Aneurin Barnard If you’ve read Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, you are familiar with the sweeping gut punch she lays out in her story about Theo Decker. Too bad the film adaptation is missing all of that. When Theo was a kid, his mother took him to an art museum that forever changed their lives. A terrorist explosion took the lives of Theo’s mother and many others. He survived but has been plagued with guilt since that fateful event. The only thing keeping him connectedRead More →

03 June
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THE GOLDFINCH Director: John CrowleyStarring: Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson, Finn Wolfhard, Willa Fitzgerald, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, Denis O’Hare The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt has been passed around from book club to book club. My mother-in-law absolutely loved it and couldn’t put it down. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014. The film adaptation is now here with a wonderful cast including: Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars), Oakes Fegley (Wonderstruck), Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story) and Nicole “rip my heart out” Kidman. Per the Warner Bros. website “Theodore “Theo” Decker was 13 years oldRead More →

27 June
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BABY DRIVER Writer/Director: Edgar Wright Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Lily James, Jamie Foxx, Jon Bernthal, Flea, Eiza González At one point, writer and director Edgar Wright was attached to direct Marvel’s Ant-Man back in 2015. If his departure from that film meant more time for Baby Driver than it’s another example of a blessing in disguise. Wright’s latest is one of the coolest and most fun times you’ll have at the theater this year. Ansel Elgort, the teen heartthrob from The Fault in Our Stars, stars in the title role as Baby. He’s a driver working under Kevin Spacey’s Doc who isRead More →

17 March
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THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT Director: Robert Schwentke Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, Zoë Kravitz, Jeff Daniels, Octavia Spencer, Naomi Watts, Bill Skarsgård, Maggie Q At the end of Insurgent, the second film in the Divergent series, our heroine Tris Prior (Woodley) learned that the factions in Chicago were all part of a larger experiment at hand and that there is a larger world outside the wall surrounding the city. Rebellion is erupting within the Erudite headquarters after the takedown of leader Jeanine. Those who were on her side are now on trial to be killed, one of them being Tris’ brotherRead More →

20 March
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THE DIVERGENT SERIES: INSURGENT Director: Robert Schwentke Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Theo James, Miles Teller, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Mekhi Phifer Let’s recap the world of Divergent because it can get a bit tricky. Even for someone that read the first book and saw the first movie, I felt a little confused at times. In a dystopian Chicago, the people have been split up into five sections called factions based on their aptitudes. They include: Amity (the peaceful), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Erudite (the intelligent), and Candor (the honest), plus some people that have been shunned away calledRead More →

22 October
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MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN Director: Jason Reitman Starring: Jennifer Garner, Adam Sandler, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ansel Elgort, Dean Norris, Judy Greer, Emma Thompson, Olivia Crocicchia, Kaitlyn Dever Jason Reitman has been known to tackle a variety of hot-button subjects like teen pregnancy (Juno), corporate layoffs (Up in the Air), and Stockholm syndrome (Labor Day). This time he tackles the idea of living in a world where we are constantly connected and plugged into our social presence on the internet. He has gathered an interesting cast for this multi-layered ensemble film of intersecting stories. We have seen directors like Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino make similarRead More →

Twin Cities Live
20 September
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TWIN CITIES LIVE September 19, 2014         It was a page to screen adaptation day on Twin Cities Live. I believe this is one of my longest segments, and it’s also one of my favorites. Enjoy! 1. THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU, Starring: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Corey Stoll, Adam Driver 2. THE MAZE RUNNER, Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter 3. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Laura Dern Here’s the video: Video courtesy of Twin Cities Live/KSTP You can find all of my past segments HERE. As always, thank you so muchRead More →

11 June
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TWIN CITIES LIVE June 11, 2014         Here are today’s picks plus links to each of my reviews: 1. The Fault in Our Stars, starring Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Laura Dern 2. Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton 3. Non-Stop, starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy Here’s the video: Video courtesy of Twin Cities Live/KSTP You can find all of my past segments HERE. As always, thank you so much for watching and your continual support. I truly appreciate it!Read More →

10 June
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THE FAULT IN OUR STARS Director: Josh Boone Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Willem Dafoe Don’t let the phrase “young adult novel adaptation” turn you away. There are no vampires, no districts, no dystopian universes, no magical spells, and no whiny characters. Yes, Hazel Grace Lancaster (Woodley) and Augustus “Gus” Waters (Elgort) may be teens, but they are not those annoying types that you want to slap twenty minutes into the movie. Hazel was always opposed to going to cancer support groups. She reluctantly decides to go to appease her mom (Dern) who only wants the best for her.Read More →

23 March
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DIVERGENT Director: Neil Burger Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ashley Judd, Tony Goldwyn, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller Big screen adaptations based on young adult book series are a hot commodity in Hollywood right now. Some of them have been hugely successful like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Twilight. Other like Beautiful Creatures, The Mortal Instruments, and Vampire Academy have not left a lasting impression on moviegoers. Divergent is the next film in this sub-genre hoping to have a massive appeal. It is based on the first book in a series of three by Veronica Roth. ItRead More →