by Coeli Carr | Dec 26, 2013
Based on the true story of crooked broker Jordan Belfort, Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street is a three-hour evocation of the revelry-filled Roman festival known as the Saturnalia. At some point during that ancient manic carnival, the head reveler was put to... 
by Coeli Carr | Dec 20, 2013
The title Saving Mr. Banks tells us this man will be saved. The person in charge of delivering the fellow from harm is another matter entirely. Learning the identity of that individual is at the weepy core of John Lee Hancock’s movie. Mention the word “save” and,... 
by Coeli Carr | Dec 10, 2013
David O. Russell’s American Hustle is a massive con-artist romp whose every moment bursts with its characters’ desperation, greed and lies. A period piece set in New York and New Jersey during the late 1970s, the movie is loosely based on the Abscam scandal, tied to... 
by Coeli Carr | Nov 11, 2013
People are quick to spit out old-people adjectives. Stubborn. Demanding. Irrational. In Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) wears those descriptives proudly and even defiantly. His senior traits ignite, generating mayhem among those who love him and... 
by Coeli Carr | Oct 1, 2013
In a previous “Breaking Bad” post, I wrote about Walter White’s three sons – one biological and two metaphoric – as well as an illegitimate fourth. That would be his meth-child Baby Blue. My taking liberties with the heirs of the White name is, of course,... 