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)
Author: Laurie Coker
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
Review: MOMMY
By Laurie Coker Rating: A Parenting is rarely easy. As is often noted, children do not come with user guides, so we do our best. Single parenting challenges even the strongest of hearts, and such is the case with a mother struggling to raise her unpredictable 15 year-old son, in director Xavier Dolan’s film Mommy.… Continue reading Review: MOMMY
Review: THE BOY NEXT DOOR
By Laurie Coker Rating: F No doubt, Jennifer Lopez is a beautiful woman – her look defies age and inspires others, but that does not mean she knows what makes good film. She is enjoyable to watch, loved her in Selina and have liked her in many other films, but her genre has gone stale.… Continue reading Review: THE BOY NEXT DOOR
Review: MR. TURNER
By Laurie Coker Rating: A Timothy Spall finds his niche in Mr. Turner a strangely mesmerizing, meandering movie about a lonely man, who moves lethargically through an extraordinary life – the life of British artist Joseph Turner, whose art is as significant and fascinating as the man. Director Mike Leigh and Spall manage pull us… Continue reading Review: MR. TURNER
A Non-Review: MORTDECAI
By Laurie Coker Rating: N/A A great deal can be said about a film that isn’t screened for the press. Perhaps the filmmakers believe it will draw audiences with its star power, as a sequel to a previously successful film, or as I am guessing is the case of Mordecai, starring Johnny Depp and Gwyneth… Continue reading A Non-Review: MORTDECAI
Review: INHERENT VICE
By Laurie Coker Rating: D+/C- Inherent Vice is even more bizarre than Joaquin Phoenix’s Her. Phoenix, who has once retired from acting, likes to choose challenging, unusual roles. In his most recent movie Inherent Vice, his character Larry “Doc” Sportello, a pot smoking private eye, is outlandish – but not nearly as peculiar as the… Continue reading Review: INHERENT VICE
Review: HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY
By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ Cliff hangers make viewers come back and monetarily, for filmmakers and networks, they make bank. Splitting a novel adaptation into two different films (like the final Harry Potter) makes sense, because it makes money, but to fans a year gap annoys more than it excites. The latest installment of the… Continue reading Review: HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY