19 December
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WOMEN TALKING Director: Sarah PolleyStarring: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Sheila McCarthy, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw, Frances McDormand The power religion has over people can be hard to grapple. Some fear the unknown wrath of God which informs many of life’s decisions. Writer/director Sarah Polley’s new film Women Talking is loosely inspired on a true story and tackles some of these questions. Polley uses the voice of a young girl as the narrator of this story as she states, “It’s doomsday and a call to prayer.” The women are not given much in a community run by the power men have over them. They’veRead More →

16 December
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In Movie Reviews

NIGHTMARE ALLEY Director: Guillermo del ToroStarring: Bradley Cooper, Toni Collette, David Strathairn, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe, Ron Perlman, Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen, Holt McCallany Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) has made many films about monsters, the macabre, and other unexplainable forces. His new film, Nightmare Alley, takes his audience back to the traveling carnival. Bradley Cooper leads an all-star cast as Stanton Carlisle. He enters the grounds of a traveling carnival admiring the crowds, the spectacles, and the cons at hand. He befriends a psychic and her magician husband who teach him the secrets of the trade. He fallsRead More →

23 August
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In Movie Reviews

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS Director: Travis Knight Starring: Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes, Rooney Mara, George Takei I’ve seen quite a few animated films this year, and Kubo and the Two Strings ranks as the very best of that list. A young boy named Kubo (Parkinson) lives in a rocky cliff above town. He wears a patch over his eye, which was taken by his grandfather, Moon King (Fiennes) when he was a little boy. His father perished while trying to protect him, and now his mother keeps him in hiding from his grandfather and two aunts (both voiced by RooneyRead More →

14 January
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In Award Ceremonies

The 88th ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS BEST PICTURE 1. The Big Short 2. Bridge of Spies 3. Brooklyn 4. Mad Max Fury Road 5. The Martian 6. The Revenant 7. Room 8. Spotlight BEST DIRECTOR 1. Lenny Abrahamson, Room 2. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, The Revenant 3. Adam McKay, The Big Short 4. Tom McCarthy, Spotlight 5. George Miller, Mad Max Fury Road BEST ACTOR 1. Bryan Cranston, Trumbo 2. Matt Damon, The Martian 3. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant 4. Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs 5. Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl BEST ACTRESS 1. Cate Blanchett, Carol 2. Brie Larson, Room 3. Jennifer Lawrence, Joy 4. Charlotte Rampling,Read More →

30 December
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In Special Series

2015: A YEAR IN REVIEW It’s that time of the year again when critics post their best and worst of the year lists. The beginning of 2015 was a big doozy to the point where I thought it was going to be a bad year at the movies. It was one lousy movie after another (Get Hard, Chappie). The summer hit and the year seemed to be turning around especially after long running franchises were brought back to life to thunderous applause (Jurassic World, Mad Max Fury Road). The year ended with some wonderful smaller films packing a punch (Spotlight, Carol) and big studio filmsRead More →

25 December
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In Movie Reviews

CAROL Director: Todd Haynes Starring: Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Jake Lacy, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson It’s the early 1950s and that snowy and bustling time of the year again as Christmas approaches. For Therese (Mara), that means a busy work season as she is employed in the toy section of a large department store in New York. It’s just a job for her as she finds more joy in being a photographer. One day while working, she spots Carol Aird (Blanchett) who comes into the store looking for a gift for her daughter. There’s an attraction between them right from the beginning. Carol is aRead More →

22 December
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In Interviews

A CONVERSATION WITH TODD HAYNES AND CHRISTINE VACHON ON “CAROL” Director Todd Haynes and his producing partner Christine Vachon have been working together for twenty years now through her production company Killer Films. Their films, including Far From Heaven and Velvet Goldmine, have been celebrated by critics and moviegoers for their depiction of gay and lesbian themes. They were recently in Minneapolis when the Walker Art Center presented a retrospective of their work together. It opened with a special screening of their new film, Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. It’s based off the book The Price of Salt, the second book by Patricia HighsmithRead More →

10 January
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In Movie Reviews

HER Writer/Director: Spike Jonze Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt, Olivia Wilde Is it possible to fall madly in love with someone even though you have never met them? I am sure that is not uncommon in the world of online dating. What if that person was your operating system? That is the fascinating and peculiar idea behind Spike Jonze’s latest, Her. Theodore Twombley (Phoenix) is going through the divorce process with his wife Catherine (Mara). He feels alone, confused, and all of those other feelings that come when the love of your life wants to leave you. It probablyRead More →

02 July
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In Movie Reviews

PAUL’S 2013 MID-YEAR MOVIE RECAPI alway like to keep a running tally of all of the new movies I have taken in over the year. Whether they are the new 2013 releases, movies from the last few years I’m catching up on, or taking advantage of the old classics, I like to see how my movie watching is growing or decreasing and what the 2013 movie year is shaping up to be like. Let’s see how this year has panned out so far: The SessionsPromised LandBroken CitySide EffectsAmourTake This WaltzBeasts of the Southern WildTinker Tailor Soldier SpyOz, The Great and PowerfulSide By SideA SeparationWreck-It RalphComplianceAdmissionThe SilenceTheRead More →