Jim Broadbent

The Forgaughtens: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

The Forgaughtens: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

This is the first in a series of posts revisiting “forgotten” films that were released between the years 2000 and 2009, or the aughts. All films will be discussed in the context of their release, as well as their cultural relevance today, and at the end of each post, a film will be given a […]

Gangs of New York Review

Gangs of New York Review

RATING: (4 STARS) “My father told me we was all born of blood and tribulation, and so then too was our great city.” This beautiful quote just about closes Martin Scorsese’s impossibly epic Gangs of New York. And it’s a fitting one to sum up both the film’s plot and biggest themes. The Amsterdam Vallon […]

The Iron Lady Review

The Iron Lady Review

RATING: (2.5 STARS) The Iron Lady lacks focus, plain and simple. It strives to be this grand biopic that encompasses the whole of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s life. But for such a big, polarizing figure, it feels as if her messier, more complicated moments are glossed over in favor of spending time with a dementia-riddled […]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Review

RATING: (3.5 STARS) All good things must come to and end, even Harry Potter. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the eighth and final film in the enormously successful series, lives up the promise of its immediate predecessor, Deathly Hallows: Part 1, and provides the series and its fans with the send-off they […]

Another Year Review

Another Year Review

RATING: (3.5 STARS) If you’ve ever read this blog before, you probably know how much I adore the films of Mike Leigh. He has an uncanny ability to take seemingly mundane material and make it supremely insightful and emotionally involving. The director’s latest, Another Year, is no different. On the surface, it’s a hodgepodge of […]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review

RATING: (2.5 STARS) Coming off the high that was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, my anticipation was off-the-charts for the sixth film in J.K. Rowling’s hugely popular series—Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Not only is the film based on what is, in my opinion, the strongest novel in the series, but […]

The Young Victoria Review

The Young Victoria Review

RATING: (3 STARS) European royalty dramas are a dime a dozen. The last decade has seen films about Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth II, Marie Antoinette, among many others. The close of the decade brought another such film—Jean-Marc Vallée’s “The Young Victoria” about the early years of the reign of Britain’s longest serving monarch. The […]