Movies
Now on Home Video: Spielberg’s ‘Bridge of Spies’ and More
Bridge of Spies (2015)
Bridge of Spies (2015)
Stars: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, and Alan Alda
Director: Steven Spielberg
Genre: Historical Drama, Thriller, Biography
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Synopsis from Dreamworks: A dramatic thriller set against the backdrop of a series of historic events, Bridge of Spies is “absolutely brilliant and totally riveting” (Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times). James Donovan (Tom Hanks) is a Brooklyn lawyer who finds himself thrust into the center of the Cold War when the CIA sends him on a nearly impossible mission to negotiate the release of a captured American U-2 pilot. High stakes and suspense power a story that captures the essence of a man who risked everything, vividly bringing his personal journey to life.
Available on Amazon and iTunes
The Last Witch Hunter (2015)
Stars: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, and Elijah Wood
Director: Breck Eisner
Genre: Fantasy, Action Adventure, Thriller
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Synopsis from Summit Entertainment: The modern world holds many secrets, but by far the most astounding is that witches still live among us; vicious supernatural creatures intent on unleashing the Black Death upon the world and putting an end to the human race once and for all. Armies of witch hunters have battled this unnatural enemy for centuries, including Kaulder, a valiant warrior who many years ago slayed the all-powerful WITCH QUEEN, decimating her followers in the process. In the moments right before her death, the Queen cursed KAULDER with immortality, forever separating him from his beloved wife and daughter. Today, Kaulder is the last living hunter who has spent his immortal life tracking down rogue witches, all the while yearning for his long-lost family. However, unbeknownst to Kaulder, the Witch Queen has been resurrected and seeks revenge on her killer, leading to an epic battle that will determine the survival of mankind.
Available on Amazon and iTunes
Truth (2015)
Truth (2015)
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, and Dennis Quaid
Director: James Vanderbilt
Genre: Drama, Biography
Motion Picture Rating: R
Based on the Memoir: Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power by Mary Mapes
Synopsis from Sony Pictures Classics: On the morning of September 9, 2004, veteran CBS News producer MARY MAPES (Cate Blanchett) believed she had every reason to feel proud of a broadcast journalism job well done. By the end of the day, Mapes, CBS News, and the venerable CBS News anchor DAN RATHER (Robert Redford) would be under harsh scrutiny.
The evening before, I had aired an investigative report, produced by Mapes and reported on-air by Rather, that purported to reveal new evidence proving that President George W. Bush had possibly shirked his duty during his service as a Texas Air National Guard pilot from 1968 to 1974. The piece asserted that George W. Bush had not only exploited family connections and political privilege to avoid the Vietnam War by joining the Texas Air National Guard, but he had failed for many months to fulfill his most basic Guard obligation-showing up on base.
Mapes and her team of researchers had scrambled under a tight deadline to pull together both on- air eyewitness testimony and newly-disclosed documents to make their case, and they felt confident that their story was solid. In the lead-up to the 2004 Bush v. Kerry presidential election, the “Bush-Guard” story could have had profound ramifications.
But within days after the story broke, George W. Bush’s military service record was no longer the focus of media and public scrutiny. Instead, it was 60 Minutes, Mapes, and Rather who were under question: the documents supporting their investigation were denounced as forgeries, and the 60 Minutes staff was accused of shoddy journalism or, perhaps worse, accused of being duped. Eventually, Mapes would lose her job and reputation. Dan Rather would step down prematurely as CBS News anchor.
How did attention end up focused on the journalists who questioned the official version of the story? How did the minutiae of document typefaces, line breaks, and superscripts become seemingly more important to the national discourse than the question of whether the President had failed to fulfill his military obligations? Have journalistic integrity and independence been fundamentally altered in today’s newsrooms and boardrooms?
Available on Amazon and iTunes
Suffragette (2015)
Suffragette (2015)
Stars: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whishaw, and Meryl Streep
Director: Sarah Gavron
Genre: Historical Drama, Biography
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Synopsis from Pathe Productions Limited: With an all-star cast including Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whishaw and Meryl Streep as Emmeline Pankhurst, SUFFRAGETTE is the powerful and thrilling first film about the remarkable untold story of the real foot soldiers of the Suffragette movement. These women were not primarily from the genteel educated classes, they were working women who had seen peaceful protest achieve nothing. Radicalised and turning to violence as the only route to change, they were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality – their jobs, their homes, their children and their lives. Maud (played by Carey Mulligan) was one such foot soldier. The story of her fight for dignity is as gripping and visceral as any thriller; it is also both heart-breaking and inspirational.
Available on Amazon and iTunes
Rock the Kasbah (2015)
Rock the Kasbah (2015)
Stars: Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Zooey Deschanel, Kate Hudson, Leem Lubany, Scott Caan, Danny McBride, Kelly Lynch, Arian Moayed, Taylor Kinney, and Beejan Land
Director: Barry Levinson
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Motion Picture Rating: R
Synopsis from Open Road Films: A has-been rock manager from Van Nuys, California stumbles upon a once-in-a-lifetime voice in a remote Afghan cave in Rock the Kasbah, a dramatic comedy inspired by stranger-than-fiction, real-life events and directed by Oscar winner Barry Levinson. Richie Lanz (Bill Murray), dumped and stranded in war-torn Kabul by his last remaining client (Zooey Deschanel), discovers Salima Khan (Leem Lubany), a Pashtun teenager with a beautiful voice and the courageous dream of becoming the first woman to compete on national television in Afghanistan’s version of “American Idol.” Richie partners with a savvy hooker (Kate Hudson), a pair of hard-partying war profiteers (Danny McBride and Scott Caan) and a hair-trigger mercenary (Bruce Willis) and, braving dangerous cultural prejudices, manages his new protégée into becoming the “Afghan Star.”
Available on Amazon and iTunes
Our Brand is Crisis (2015)
Our Brand is Crisis (2015)
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Scoot McNairy, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie, Ann Dowd, and Joaquim de Almeida
Director: David Gordon Green
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Motion Picture Rating: R
Synopsis from Warner Bros. Entertainment: A Bolivian presidential candidate failing badly in the polls enlists the firepower of an elite American management team, led by the deeply damaged but still brilliant strategist “Calamity” Jane Bodine (Bullock). In self-imposed retirement following a scandal that earned her nickname and rocked her to her core, Jane is coaxed back into the game for the chance to beat her professional nemesis, the loathsome Pat Candy (Thornton), now coaching the opposition.
But as Candy zeroes in on every vulnerability – both on and off the campaign trail – Jane is plunged into a personal crisis as intense as the one her team exploits nationally to boost their numbers. “Our Brand is Crisis” reveals the cynical machinations and private battles of world-class political consultants for whom nothing is sacred and winning is all that matters.
Available on Amazon and iTunes
Freeheld (2015)
Freeheld (2015)
Stars: Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Steve Carell, Luke Grimes, and Michael Shannon
Director: Peter Sollett
Genre: Drama, Romance, Biography
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Synopsis from Summit Entertainment: Based on the Oscar®-winning short documentary and adapted by the writer of Philadelphia, Freeheld is the true love story of Laurel Hester [Julianne Moore] and Stacie Andree [Ellen Page] and their fight for justice. A decorated New Jersey police detective, Laurel is diagnosed with cancer and wants to leave her hard earned pension to her domestic partner, Stacie. However the county officials, Freeholders, conspire to prevent Laurel from doing this. Hard-nosed detective Dane Wells [Michael Shannon], and activist Steven Goldstein [Steve Carell], unite in Laurel and Stacie’s defense, rallying police officers and ordinary citizens to support their struggle for equality.
Available on Amazon and iTunes
Meadowland (2015)
Meadowland (2015)
Stars: Olivia Wilde, Luke Wilson, Juno Temple, Elisabeth Moss, Giovanni Ribisi, John Leguizamo and Ty Simpkins
Director: Reed Morano
Genre: Drama
Motion Picture Rating: R
Synopsis from Bron Studios: In the hazy aftermath of an unimaginable loss, Sarah (Olivia Wilde) and Phil (Luke Wilson) come unhinged, recklessly ignoring the repercussions. Phil starts to lose sight of his morals as Sarah puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations, falling deeper into her own fever dream.
Available on Amazon and iTunes
