Focus Features

(This review originally appeared at Reel Film News on December 31, 2012.) In our push to liberate ourselves from foreign oil, a process called “fracking” – hydraulic fracturing of land in order to extract elements to be used for natural gas – has started taking center stage in our discourse on energy alternatives. The process […]

(This review originally appeared at Reel Film News on December 14, 2012.) Every single last performance in Hyde Park on Hudson is noteworthy. However, the film is also proof positive that performances are only part of a movie; they are the colors that the director uses to make you sit up and take notice. Keeping […]

(This review originally appeared at Reel Film News on November 16, 2012.) Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The story of a woman torn between her family, her extramarital love, and the societal pressures that destroy them all. It’s a novel that has more film, television, and staged adaptations than you could possibly want to see. The […]

(This interview was originally published on December 15, 2011 at The Rogers Revue) When we sat down with Gary Oldman and director Tomas Alfredson to discuss their  adaptation of John le Carré’s 1974 Cold War espionage thriller “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”, I was prepared to interview two men with the same reserved demeanor as the characters in […]

(This review was originally published on August 31, 2011 at The Rogers Revue) Oftentimes when thrillers attempt to weave the realism of a historically relevant era into their plot, they get wrapped up in the mechanics of what the characters are doing instead of the characters themselves. “The Debt”, John Madden’s re-imagining of the 2007 Israeli thriller […]

(This review was originally published on August 30, 2011 at The Rogers Revue) For an Oscar nominated director, John Madden is a modest man. From theatre and radio to television and eventually feature films, he is also a Jury Member at Filmaka, a studio that harnesses up-and-coming talent in the filmmaking industry. Perhaps best known […]