By Laurie Coker Rating: D- With all the goings on and debate about surveillance, loss of privacy, terrorism and stolen freedoms, I assumed a film like Closed Circuit might impress me with a crisp thematic connection to current events. Although the film begins well enough, it soon fizzles out into a sputter of predictability and… Continue reading Review: CLOSED CIRCUIT
Author: Laurie Coker
The Great Gatsby Comes Home on August 27th on Warner Brothers’. Blu-ray Combo Pack
By Laurie Coker After making a decent splash in theatres this spring, The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey McGuire makes its way to DVD on August 27th in Warner Brother’s special feature –filled combo pack which includes Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultraviolet. In a real spectacle of cinematography, music, casting and costuming, The Great… Continue reading The Great Gatsby Comes Home on August 27th on Warner Brothers’. Blu-ray Combo Pack
Review: YOU’RE NEXT
By Laurie Coker Rating: A+ Breaking all my owns rules when picking favorites, like Cabin in the Woods did last year, by all accounts I should hate You’re Next, but even with its gratuitous bloodletting, insane amounts of violence and campy storyline, it engaged me from start to finish and I didn’t even cover my… Continue reading Review: YOU’RE NEXT
Review: KICK ASS 2
By Laurie Coker Rating: D- When Kick Ass premiered at SXSW a couple of years ago, it surprised me. I never thought I would get in to such a wild, farfetched film, but I did – for good reason. The story, the cast, the excitement of SXSW all worked to enhance the experience and it… Continue reading Review: KICK ASS 2
Review: THE BUTLER
By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ It is easy to love a film, in spite of a sometimes heavy handed director, if for nothing more than an exceptional cast. Scripted by Danny Strong, Lee Daniels’ civil rights era film meanders perhaps a bit too much in places, but because of the talents of Forest Whitaker and… Continue reading Review: THE BUTLER
Review: ELYSIUM
By Laurie Coker Rating: C- In a season of sci-fi thrillers, like Oblivion, World War Z, in my book, Eyslium fails to deliver. An over bearing soundtrack, limited character connections and poor pacing makes Mat Damon’s newest venture a dull, misadventure. Having loved District9, another film from director/writer Neill Blomkamp, I hoped for better. I… Continue reading Review: ELYSIUM
Review: I’M SO EXCITED
By Laurie Coker Rating: C+ Sex, seduction, booze, debauchery and strangeness all take place aboard Peninsula Flight 2549 as it heads to Mexico City from Spain. An interesting group of first class passengers, three flamboyant fight stewards and an unusual cock pit team get into all sorts of odd and sometime sexual situations, as… Continue reading Review: I’M SO EXCITED
Review: BLUE JASMINE
By Laurie Coker Rating: A- Cate Blanchet offers an impressive performance, as the emotionally broken Jasmine, in Woody Allen’s latest film Blue Jasmine. Her performance fills each scene with passion, craziness and disillusion, and Allen’s ensemble cast ties it together perfectly. It’s the tale of a once wealthy woman forced to rely on a sister… Continue reading Review: BLUE JASMINE
Review: To Do List
By Laurie Coker Rating: F I’ve grown too old, I think, especially as a parent and as a teacher. As I sat through To Do List, I cringed at almost every scene. When I watched Brandy Klark (Aubrey Plaza), the class valedictorian graduating from high school, spend her last summer before college checking disgusting… Continue reading Review: To Do List
Review: FRUITVALE STATION
By Laurie Coke Rating: B+ There is one phone call parents never want to receive. Fruitvale Station brings to life one mother’s nightmare, a daughter’s loss and the story of a life cut short. After celebrating New Year’s Eve with friends in 2009, Oscar Grant III died when a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police… Continue reading Review: FRUITVALE STATION