Tag Archives: Matt Damon

Watching Robin Williams

I figured I'd wait a few days before offering any kind of tribute to Robin Williams. Give the news a chance sink in. It seems to me a universal tragedy; someone so talented, so adored, would feel so despondent as to end his life. Depression doesn't discriminate. Of the more moving remembrances to the Oscar-winning actor… Read More

The Zero Theorem review

Directed by Terry Gilliam, written by Pat Rushin I've always admired Terry Gilliam, even when I haven't loved his movies. His legend as a giant slayer—largely due to his masterpiece  Brazil having found an audience in his preferred version despite the studio meddling—still carries serious weight today, 30 years later. And the Monty Python alum's favourite themes—the… Read More

The Monuments Men review

Directed by George Clooney Written by Clooney and Grant Heslov, adapting a book by Robert M. Edsel and Ben Witter I get that George Clooney has a love for some old-timey movies, the sort that move at a more leisurely pace and rely a great deal on the charm of the actors. He showed that… Read More

Elysium review

Written and directed by Neill Blomkamp | 109 min | Netflix Blomkamp impressed everyone—including Academy voters, who nominated the film for a Best Picture Oscar—with his first movie, District 9. The South African-born, Vancouver-educated filmmaker made a slam-bang science fiction movie with definitive visual flair that even offered a tang of political allegory in the… Read More

Behind the Candelabra review

Directed by Steven SoderberghWritten by Richard LaGravenese, based on the book by Alex Thorleifson and Scott ThorsonThis feels like such an unlikely film, a biopic of the legendary entertainer Liberace. He was an extraordinarily private person for someone in the public eye, spending his entire life closeted. I think we can have a lot of… Read More

The Films of Steven Soderbergh

One of the biggest disappointments of 2013 (so far) is what appears to be Steven Soderbergh's (seemingly) serious intent to retire from directing movies. Soderbergh is consistently one of the most interesting American filmmakers. He's not often the screenwriter of his projects, but he's certainly an auteur in every other way I can think of.… Read More

The Bourne Legacy review

Directed by Tony Gilroy Written by Tony and Dan Gilroy, from a story by Tony, inspired by the Robert Ludlum novels. Tough act this one is following. The first three Bourne movies are that rare popular franchise without a weak link. Each of the films has something to recommend it, the second and third strongly… Read More

Revisiting the Bourne Trilogy

I decided to rewatch the immensely popular and influential Universal Pictures action franchise this weekend in advance of its relaunch August 10 with The Bourne Legacy. I say "relaunch" because it's not just another sequel — the director of the second and third film, Paul Greengrass, chose not to return, as did the lead, Matt… Read More

Contagion review

Directed by Steven Soderbergh | Written by Scott Z. Burns | 106 min | Netflix  I've read that Soderbergh's intent with this virus thriller was to make a film akin to producer/director Irwin Allen's disaster movies of the 1970s, which included The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno and The Swarm. The template of those pictures… Read More