By Laurie Coker Rating: A+ An all-star cast graces the big screen with Melissa McCarthy at the center of the new, hilariously funny summer comedy, Spy, that screened at SXSW this year. Jude Law and Rose Byrne and the ever macho Jason Statham join McCarthy in a fun spoof of espionage films. McCarthy, who walked… Continue reading Review: SPY (SXSW)
Author: Laurie Coker
SXSW Review: WESTERN
By Laurie Coker Rating: F Never have I been as painfully bored in a movie, especially at SXSW, until I sat and squirmed through Western, a documentary about the border towns of Eagle Pass and its Mexican neighbor Piedras Negra. I truly wish I had better things to say, but I just don’t. Having grown… Continue reading SXSW Review: WESTERN
Review: LOVE & MERCY (SXSW)
By Laurie Coker Rating: A At SXSW this year, I had opportunity to meet John Cusack and Brian Wilson, of the Beach Boys, who were in town to promote their movie Love & Mercy, a biopic about the life of Wilson and the doctor who nearly ruined it completely. As a fan of the Beach… Continue reading Review: LOVE & MERCY (SXSW)
Review: SAN ANDREAS
By Laurie Coker Rating: D+ Earthquake, Towering Inferno, Twister and Poseidon Adventure are just a few of a long like of disaster movies. There is little fresh about recent cataclysm showings, expect perhaps for special effects. Time has given directors opportunity to create big as life images of earthquakes, floods and dystopian worlds. Computer imagery put… Continue reading Review: SAN ANDREAS
Review: TOMORROWLAND
By Laurie Coker Rating: C+/B- As a child, I had opportunity to visit Disneyland with my family. I remember standing in awe when we visited Disney’s “Tomorrowland” looking at the people mover mono-rail, moving sidewalks, space travel rides and exhibits, and other astonishing things. In that same vein and with the Walt Disney’s incredible visions… Continue reading Review: TOMORROWLAND
Review: MAD MAX FURY ROAD
By Laurie Coker Rating: B I have watched all the Mad Max films and enjoyed Mel Gibson’s portrayal of the wild-eyed, crazy titular character. I took my friend to see the most recent Mad Max film because of his excitement to see it, not really mine. Still, going in with an open mind, I planned… Continue reading Review: MAD MAX FURY ROAD
Review: EX MACHINA (SXSW)
By Laurie Coker Rating: C+/B- Having spent several blocks having my students demonstrate their analysis of setting, theme and character for a novel using Minecraftedu, and watching a friend of mine take a graduate class in part inside a virtual world called Second Life, I looked forward to seeing Ex Machina at SWSX. I watched… Continue reading Review: EX MACHINA (SXSW)
Review: TRUE STORY
By Laurie Coker Rating: C Actor Jonah Hill flexes his acting muscles in his latest film True Story, but co-star James Franco never quite measures up to the character he means to emulate. Base on a the true story of New York Times writer, Michael Finkle’s fall from fame, director Rupert Goold’s film left me… Continue reading Review: TRUE STORY
Review: WOMAN IN GOLD
By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ Taking a softer approach to a film about the Nazi occupation of Austria can be daunting, but Simon Curtis creates a palatable, audience pleasing, recount of the case of Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), an elderly Jewish woman living in Los Angeles who has claim to one of artist Gustav Klimt’s… Continue reading Review: WOMAN IN GOLD
Review: FIFTY SHADES OF GREY
By Laurie Coker Rating: C- I did it. I read Fifty Shades of Grey and the two sequels by pulp writer E.L. James. I sat curled up in my bed, glued to the poorly written pages of soft porn and a silly, Cinderella storyline and I wasn’t alone. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson takes on the challenge… Continue reading Review: FIFTY SHADES OF GREY