Author: Laurie Coker

By Laurie Coker Rating: A- I realize it’s completely cliché to say this, but Dame Judi Dench could read a phone book and people would listen. Ms. Dench’s remarkable, venerable performance and the screenplay, adapted by her co-star Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope from Martin Sixsmith’s 2009 nonfiction book, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee makes every… Continue reading Review: PHILOMENA

By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ If ever a franchised relied on a key actor and his or her portrayal of the story’s protagonist, Jennifer Lawrence is to The Hunger Games, what Daniel Radcliff is to Harry Potter. Her embodiment of Katniss Everdeen in the series’ latest installment captivates more even than any of the film’s… Continue reading Review: THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE

By Laurie Coker Rating: B- In 1999, director Malcolm D. Lee gave us The Best Man, and this year, his all star cast returns in its sequel Best Man Holiday, catching  fans up on the lives of the same friends fifteen years later. Clear cast chemistry kept me connected to a film that sometimes flounders… Continue reading Review: BEST MAN HOLIDAY

By Laurie Coker Rating: A+ Matthew McConaughey had one heck of a year last year, but this year will most likely prove his best year yet! With MUD and now Dallas Buyers Club, a role for which he reportedly lost nearly forty pounds, he surely will get, at the very least, an Oscar nod for… Continue reading Review: DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

By Laurie Coker Rating: B Decent entertainment – my two word take on Thor: The Dark World. As with most Marvel adventures, the plot of Thor 2 matters far less than do the visual effects and its characters, and in that vein, the film shines. Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as the title character and… Continue reading Review: THOR: THE DARK WORLD

By Laurie Coker Rating: C+/B- Fortunately or unfortunately, I watched Robert Redford’s new film All is Lost, about a lone sailor lost at sea, with two accomplished sailing women – my older sister and her friend. Because of their expertise and my own experiences aboard my sister’s boats, I looked on Redford’s character’s adventure with… Continue reading Review: ALL IS LOST

By Laurie Coker Rating: C- Just in time for the holiday season, Free Birds, starring the voice talent of Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler and a host of others, comes to theatres. Just in case, we don’t get our fill on Thanksgiving, co-writer, director Jimmy Hayward brings us more. The kids will LOVE it,… Continue reading Review: FREE BIRDS

By Laurie Coker Rating: B- Now part of many high school freshman English class curriculums, Orson Scott Card’s short story turned novel Ender’s Game finally comes to the big screen in a big (IMAX) way. Director Gavin Hood, who adapted Card’s novel for screen,  manages to stay true enough to the story and some of its… Continue reading Review: ENDER’S GAME