By Laurie Coker Rating: B- For cast appeal alone, The Place Beyond the Pines will draw big and rightly so. Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper highlight the cast and for their efforts all is well with The Place Beyond the Pines. It is, however, director Derek Gianfrance and co-writers Ben Coccio and Darius Marder’s script that falters. It… Continue reading Review: THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
Category: MAIN
Review: 42
By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ Baseball, THE American pastime – I suppose, but perhaps not as much today as in the past. Still, its heroes are our heroes and few don’t know the significance of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson in sports and in the United States. Director/script writer Brian Helgeland’s biopic gives audiences a… Continue reading Review: 42
Review: TRANCE
By Renee’ Collins Rating: 4 (Out of 5 Reels) This film is a complete roller coaster ride from beginning to end. An art auctioneer, Simon (James McAvoy), becomes mixed up with a group of criminal partners and a hypnotherapist, Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) in order to recover a lost painting.
SXSW 2013 Review: EVIL DEAD
By Laurie Coker Rating: D+ (But this in NOT a genre of film I typically enjoy!) I cannot stand gore for gore sake and shy away from most horror films. I especially loathe films like Saw and Hostel. I prefer to be scared. With that said, I am perhaps the worst person to review the… Continue reading SXSW 2013 Review: EVIL DEAD
Review: JURASSIC PARK 3D
By Laurie Coker Rating: A I remember spending evening after evening reading Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park with and to my dyslexic son, because we both wanted to see the film when it hit theatres. Six years before I became a film critic, with a lifetime love for film, unending admiration for Spielberg and a fascination… Continue reading Review: JURASSIC PARK 3D
Review: GINGER AND ROSA
By Laurie Coker Rating: B Some films simply make us feel and connect us wholly to the characters. With exceptional lead actresses like Ella Fanning (Dakota’s younger sister) and Alice Englert and an equally impressive supporting cast, Ginger and Rosa, a coming of age film set in England during the 1960s, engages while it entertains.… Continue reading Review: GINGER AND ROSA
Check out ROGUE – NEW DIRECT TV Series!
Rogue – DIRECTV Series Airing Wednesdays 9:00 PM! Dynamic Characters, impressive cast and compelling storylines make Rogue a MUST Watch! By: Laurie Coker Rating: A SXSW film offers a plethora of narrative and documentary films, but recently its hosted sneak peeks of television series, like the monumentally popular HBO series Girls. This year I was… Continue reading Check out ROGUE – NEW DIRECT TV Series!
SXSW 2013 Review: You’re Next, Lords of Salem and Cheap Thrills – Laurie’s Take on 3 Midnight Screenings
By Laurie Coker You’re Next – Rating: A Cheap Thrills – Rating: B Lords of Salem – Rating: F- SXSW Film Festival 2013 came to a close for me at 2 AM Sunday the 17th of March. Whew! I took in one more film at midnight at the Alamo Ritz downtown – a screening of… Continue reading SXSW 2013 Review: You’re Next, Lords of Salem and Cheap Thrills – Laurie’s Take on 3 Midnight Screenings
Review: OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN
By Laurie Coker Rating: D Independence Day meets Die Hard (the first one) is how I describe Olympus has Fallen, a film about a group of Korean rebels who attack the White House and take all key figures captive. Starring Gerard Butler and Aaron Eckhart, Olympus has Fallen works far too hard to pull on… Continue reading Review: OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN
Review: ADMISSION
By Laurie Coker Rating: B- From the opening scene of Admission a new comedy starring the talented and funny Tina Fey and the equally appealing Paul Rudd, I knew I wanted to share clips with my senior students as they prepare to write college essays. More than that, however, because of excellent comic and personal… Continue reading Review: ADMISSION