Dominic Cooper (The Devil's Double) stars as AJ (Later Sir Alfred) Munnings, with Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) as Florence Carter-Wood and Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) as Gilbert Evans, in SUMMER IN FEBRUARY, based on Jonathan Smith's novel about love and loss among a bohemian colony of artists which flourished in the wild coastal region of Cornwall before the First World War.
Movie Details :
Directed By : Christopher Menaul Produced By : Jeremy Cowdrey, Janette Day, Pippa Cross Writer : Jonathan Smith Stars : Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning, Dan Stevens ,Hattie Morahan Music : Benjamin Wallfisch Country : United Kingdom Language : English Official Site : Official WebSite , On Facebook ,On Twitter Status : Not yet released Released Date : 17 January 2014 (USA) Running Time : 100 minutes
The Newlyn University of performers prospered at the starting of the twentieth Millennium and the movie concentrates on the crazy and bohemian Lamorna Team, which involved Alfred Munnings and Laura and Harold Soldier. The incendiary anti-Modernist Munnings, now considered as one of The british most sought-after performers, is at the center of the complicated really like triangular, including ambitious specialist Florencia Carter-Wood and Gilbert Evans, the area broker in cost of the Lamorna Area property. Real - and greatly shifting - the tale is performed out against the amazing attractiveness of the Cornish shore, in the nearing darkness of The Great War.
Directed By : Parambrata Chatterjee
Produced By : RTC Entertainment
Stars : Parambrata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Rudranil Ghosh, Neha Panda
Music : Indradeep Dasgupta
Studio : Workshop
Country : India
Language : Bangla
Release Date : 22 March 2013
Movie Reviews
The film moves around two old school friends, Jeet (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) and Raj (Rudranil Ghosh) who coincidentally came across each after a quite a while. While Jeet, a associate in a big designer company, which he got from his dead father-in-law; Raj is a having difficulties musician in a group. Jeet and Raj was welcomed to a celebration of a non-Bengali business customer of Jeet, where Raj flirted with the businessman's little girl Inka (Neha Panda). After celebration, both the buddies purchased beverages from shut stores and consumed in the start. Both of them desired they had each other lifestyle. After getting up from rest, both of them discovered that their spirit has interchanged. Both of the buddies were amazed to find themselves in that scenario. While both of them tried to be faithful, but discovered it challenging to reside in each other people's lifestyle. In the meanwhile Raj (in Jeet's body) frequented Chandannagar, his area to fulfill his mother and dad, which he remaining years ago to make a profession in performing. Even, Jeet (in Raj's body) came to check out his house to see his kid. Inka came to remain with Raj (actually Jeet's soul) after she had a battle with her mother and dad. Both the buddies tried to handle each other people's work. While, Raj provided an exciting remedy of using clay in bathing room instead of silver dishes to the Indonesian customers. Jeet, however presented Inka as a cause musician in their group, whose performance was well valued. The two buddies, made the decision to get returning to each other people's lifestyle, they recurring the same functions they did on the day they interchanged and were effective in getting returning their spirits in their own whole body. The film finished with Raj going for a journey to Chandannagar to check out his mother and dad.
Watch Online Hawa Bodol Full Movie (2013) [HD Official DVD Rip] Part-1
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The movie is about Nabab and his insane close relatives who are close knit.He comes across Diya by chance on the roads and they have a insane day out togther esaping from goons employed by her dad to get her returning.Her dad does manage to get her returning , but Nabab’s life turns terrible.He is created on false charges and put behind bars.Bidhan Chattoraj completely damages Nabab’s close relatives.Nabab’s grandpa and older brother is killed, his dad becomes paralysed and his sister-in-law drops her unborn child.The second half of the movie is all about how he victories returning his love and forms ratings with Bidhan Chattoraj.
Watch Online Full Movie : Macho Mastana (Full Movie) [HD]
Son of God is a 2014 United states impressive spiritual dilemma movie generally depending on Indicate Burnett and Roma Downey's 10-hour miniseries The Holy bible. The movie will function choices of the miniseries as well as removed moments not presented during the telecast.
Movie Details
Directed By : Christopher Spencer Produced By : Mark Burnett, Roma Downey Country : United States Language : English Stars : Roma Downey, Diogo Morgado, Louise Delamere
Official Site : Official WebSite , On Facebook ,On Twitter
MPAA Rating : Rated [PG-13]
Status : Not yet released
Released Date : 28 february 2014 (USA)
Plot Summary
This film brings the story of Jesus' life to audiences through compelling cinematic storytelling that is both powerful and inspirational. Told with the scope and scale of an action epic, the film features powerful performances, exotic locales, dazzling visual effects and a rich orchestral score from Oscar®-winner Hans Zimmer. Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado portrays the role of Jesus as the film spans from his humble birth through his teachings, crucifixion and ultimate resurrection.- by 20th Century Fox
Saving Mr. Bank institutions is a 2013 American-British-Australian biographical comedy-drama movie instructed by David Lee Hancock from a movie script published by Kelly felix Marcel and Sue Cruz. Based on the development of the 1964 Wally Walt disney Companies movie, Jane Poppins, the movie celebrities Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks with assisting positions from David Giamatti, Jerr Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford and Colin Farrell.
Movie Details :
Director : John Lee Hancock Producers : Alison Owen , Ian Collie , Philip Steuer Writers : Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith Stars : Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Annie Rose Buckley , Bradley Whitford, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman Music : Thomas Newman Studio : Walt Disney Pictures, Essential Media, BBC Films Language : English country : USA, UK, Austarlia Running time : 125 minutes Release date : 20 december 2013 (USA) MPAA Rating : Rated [PG-13]
Plot
The movie facilities on the lifestyle of Travers, moving between 1907 with her child years in Qld, Sydney, the discussions with Wally Walt disney and the creating of Jane Poppins in 1961.[7][8] While in Florida for shooting, Travers believes returning to her challenging child years in Sydney, most especially to her dad, the motivation for the part of the story’s patriarch, Mr. Banks
Saving Mr. Banks Official Trailer #1 (2013) - Tom Hanks Movie
Director : Scott Cooper Producer : Leonardo DiCaprio Writers : Brad Ingelsby, Scott Cooper Stars : Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana , Forest Whitaker , Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe , Sam Shepard Music : Dickon Hinchliffe , Eddie Vedder Country : United States Language : English Running time 116 minutes Release Date : 6 December 2013 Official : Tumbler , Facebook
Plot
FROM SCOTT COOPER, THE CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED WRITER AND DIRECTOR OF CRAZY HEART, COMES A GRIPPING AND GRITTY DRAMA ABOUT FAMILY, FATE, CIRCUMSTANCE, AND JUSTICE. RUSSELL BAZE (CHRISTIAN BALE) HAS A ROUGH LIFE: HE WORKS A DEAD-END BLUE COLLAR JOB AT THE LOCAL STEEL MILL BY DAY, AND CARES FOR HIS TERMINALLY ILL FATHER BY NIGHT. WHEN RUSSELL'S BROTHER RODNEY (CASEY AFFLECK) RETURNS HOME FROM SERVING TIME IN IRAQ, HE GETS LURED INTO ONE OF THE MOST RUTHLESS CRIME RINGS IN THE NORTHEAST AND MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARS. THE POLICE FAIL TO CRACK THE CASE, SO - WITH NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE - RUSSELL TAKES MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS, PUTTING HIS LIFE ON THE LINE TO SEEK JUSTICE FOR HIS BROTHER. THE IMPRESSIVE CAST OF CHRISTIAN BALE AND WOODY HARRELSON ARE ROUNDED OUT BY CASEY AFFLECK, FOREST WHITAKER, WILLEM DAFOE, ZOE SALDANA AND SAM SHEPARD. (C) RELATIVITY
Director : David O. Russell Producers : Megan Ellison, Richard Suckle, Charles Roven Writers : Eric Singer, David O. Russell Studio : Annapurna Pictures Stars : Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper Music : Danny Elfman Country : united States Language : English Running time : 132 minutes Release Date : 18 December 2013 (wide release) Official site : Official site , Facebook & Twitter
Plot
The movie informs the tale of amazing con man Irving Rosenfeld, who along with his similarly clever and alluring English associate Modern australia Prosser is compelled to work for a crazy FBI broker Richie DiMaso. DiMaso drives them into a globe of Shirt powerbrokers and mafia that's as risky as it is wonderful. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the enthusiastic, unforeseen, New Shirt governmental owner captured between the con-artists and Feds. Irving's unforeseen spouse Rosalyn could be the one to take the line that delivers the whole globe failing down.
Bullett Raja is an upcoming Hindi (Bollywood movies ) action movie published and instructed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and created by Rahul Mittra, Nitin Tej Ahuja and Tigmanshu Dhulia, under the advertising of BrandSmith Motion pictures and Shifting Images. The movie is provided by Fox Celebrity Companies. The movie will function Saif Ali Khan, Sonakshi Sinha and Jimmy Shergill in major positions, while Large Pandey, Ravi Kishan, Gulshan Grover and Vidyut Jamwal will function in critical positions. The movie is set against the background of Uttar Pradesh-based mafia while working with the political and commercial abilities of the condition. The movie is scheduled for launch on 29 Nov 2013.
Movie Details
Director : Tigmanshu Dhulia producers : Rahul Mittra, Nitin Tej Ahuja, Tigmanshu Dhulia Writers : Tigmanshu Dhulia , Amaresh Misra Main Stars : Saif Ali Khan, Sonakshi Sinha Music : Sajid-Wajid Studio : Fox Star Studios Country : India Language : Hindi Release date : 29 november 2013 Running Time : 138 minutes
Synopsis
Bullett Raja is an gangster-thriller performer that reveals Saif Ali Khan in a never before seen character. He articles the part of Raja Mishra a commoner who gets modified into Bullett Raja - a well known, good care a rattling mind-set mobster.A trustworthy buddy and a trustworthy fan, residing life on his own conditions, establishing his own guidelines, instructing regard and worrying no one, Bullett Raja in his real inimitable design requires on the program that makes people like him in a powerful battle for energy and aspirations.
BULLETT RAJA : Official Theatrical Trailer | Saif Ali Khan, Sonakshi Sinha
Philomena is a 2013 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears.At the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival it was awarded the People's Choice Award Runner-Up prize.
Director :Stephen Frears Producers : Gabrielle Tan, Steve Coogan , Tracey Seaward Writers : Steve Coogan (screenplay), Jeff Pope (screenplay)
Stars :Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark
Music :Alexandre Desplat
Country :United States , United Kingdom , France
Language : English
Release Date : 1 November 2013(UK)
Running Time : 98 minutes
Plot
A world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
Movie Review
For all of those teenage boys dying to see Judi Dench playing an elderly Irish woman: Now you don't have to bring your parents to get into "Philomena."
In a victory against the Motion Picture Assn. of America that could be as much publicity win as potential box-office triumph, the Weinstein Co. successfully appealed the R rating given to the Dench movie, which had been handed a PG-13 mark.
"Philomena," which stars the Academy Award winner as a mother searching for a son she was forced to give up for adoption 50 years earlier, was initially given the restrictive rating because it included more than one utterance of a certain expletive, an automatic trigger in most instances of an R rating.
Studio head Harvey Weinstein, as he did in the past with "The King's Speech" and the documentary "Bully," turned the ratings decision into a political and promotional battle, enlisting Dench to film a video assuming the character she played in the Bond series, MI5 Chief M. The clip soon went viral.
Steve Coogan, who produced the film and costars opposite Dench as a journalist who is trying to help her track down her son, appealed the MPAA rating with Weinstein Co. lawyer Bert Fields on Wednesday.
The two presented the MPAA appeals board with several movies, including "The Social Network" and "Jobs," that were rated PG-13 even though they contained an equal or greater number of profanities. Coogan said that the MPAA's advocate in the proceedings said the swear words in those films were more incidental and dropped casually into conversation than in "Philomena," an opening that the actor seized upon.
"When my character uses profanity in 'Philomena' it reflects badly on his character," the British actor said he told the appeals board. "It's not a glorification of the profanity, as it is in the other films. Ours are used very notably for a reason.
"They are uttered by my character to demonstrate his short temper and somewhat volatile nature — his anger. That stands in stark contrast to Judi Dench's character, who has grace and dignity."
Weinstein is no stranger to ratings controversies. In 2011 he unsuccessfully tried to appeal an R rating — again for language — handed to eventual best picture winner "The King's Speech." After the movie won the Oscar, the studio re-released a PG-13 version of the Colin Firth picture so that younger audiences could see it.
Last year Weinstein generated a lot of publicity for the documentary "Bully," which was also given an R-rating for language even though it was a movie aimed at teenagers.
"Philomena," which has earned strong early reviews, will debut in limited release on Nov. 22.
Coogan said he does believe the film will appeal to all audiences — including teens — but said the ratings change was most critical for some older moviegoers who may typically steer clear of R-rated films. The movie has a strong message about faith and forgiveness and could appeal to religious moviegoers.
"That's why we were really bothered by the R rating," Coogan said. "Some people think R-rated films will be full of graphic sex and violence."
source: LAtimes
Philomena Official Trailer #1 (2013) - Judi Dench, Steve Coogan Movie HD
Oldboy is an upcoming 2013 American remake of the 2003 Park Chan-wook South Korean cult film, which is based on the Japanese manga with the same name. The film is directed by Spike Lee and written by Mark Protosevich. It stars Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley.
Director :Spike Lee Producers :Roy Lee, Doug Davison, Nathan Kahane Writers : Garon Tsuchiya (manga), Nobuaki Minegishi (manga)
Studio : 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks ,Good Universe
Stars :Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson
Music :Roque Baños
Country :United States
Language : English
Release Date : 27 November 2013 (USA)
Running Time : 104 minutes
Plot
Joe Doucett, an advertising executive, is kidnapped and held prisoner for twenty years in solitary confinement. After he is suddenly released, he goes on a mission to find the person responsible for his imprisonment, later discovering that his life is still caught in conspiracy and torment.
Director :Steve McQueen Producers :Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Bill Pohlad, Steve McQueen, Arnon Milchan, Anthony Katagas
Writers : John Ridley (screenplay), Solomon Northup (based on "Twelve Years a Slave" )
Studio : Regency Enterprises, Film4
Stars :Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Alfre Woodard
Music :Hans Zimmer
Country :United States
Language : English
Release Date : 8 November 2013(USA)
Running Time : 134 minutes
Plot
Based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life.
Movie Review
To call 12 Years a Slave Oscar-bait is an insult, reducing
it to little more than another star-studded biopic. True, it’s both
star-studded and a biopic. Still, director Steve McQueen’s adaptation of
Solomon Northup’s autobiography of the same name goes beyond these
simplistic descriptions. In its essence, this film is a study in human
nature, and what it means to survive.
The premise is exactly as the title suggests: Solomon Northup,
portrayed by Chiwitel Ejiofor, is a free black man living in the North
until he’s kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South, first under the
relatively merciful William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), but later
under the sadistic, violent Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). This
summary can’t even begin to do justice to the atrocities Northup suffers
under slavery. Yet somehow, the film does.
The film moves forward steadily, showing the horrors Northup
experiences without either heavy-handedness or weakness. This narrative
rhythm becomes overt in the film’s soundscape; many scenes feature slave
chants, the repetitive sounds of axes, driving drums, or other
background sound effects such as a boat’s thumping paddlewheel. Even the
cracking of whips forms a constant beat. The moments of silence allow
us to breathe, creating pauses where the previous scenes and horrors
truly sink in. But even these quieter segments are harshly powerful,
drawing their strength from details: the gazes between Northup and his
fellow slaves, or the shadows cast by a hangman’s rope.
The film also refuses to revel in the violence inherent to such a
narrative. Whippings and beatings are frequent occurrences, but often
we’re shown the victims’ faces or bodies contorting in pain, rather than
the blood and bruises they sustain. In doing so, the film shifts the
focus away from the violence and onto its human consequences. In one
horrific scene, Northup is strung up and nearly killed by an overseer
who wants him dead. However, once his persecutors are driven off, he is
left dangling, toes barely skimming the ground, for several hours.
Instead of close-ups, we see his body silhouetted against the changing
sky, and we’re left to imagine his suffering from the slight jerks and
twists he makes in keeping his feet touching the ground beneath him. The
only truly gory scene is when a fellow slave, Patsy (Lupita Nyong’o),
is sentenced to a public whipping, which flays her skin and leaves her
with a network of bloody lines. The camera doesn’t linger, but it
doesn’t shy away from showing the raw flesh of her back. The blood
serves to underscore the viciousness of Master Epps, who now has not
only raped and controlled Patsey, but publicly tortured and humiliated
her.
As Patsy, Nyong’o is one of the breakout stars of the film. She plays
a young woman who has been dealt a terrible hand—enslaved, female, the
subject of both the master’s “affections” and the mistress’s hatred.
Nyong’o uses her eyes especially to convey her deeply soulful torment,
drawing them carefully blank when Epps molests her, but allowing us to
see her vivacity when she, in a moment of free time, crafts a handful of
corn-husk dolls. Fassbender as Epps is also remarkable, representing
the snarling, hateful sort of person that slavery as an institution
breeds. He doesn’t just own them for his livelihood—he truly believes
that they are chattel.
In the end, though, Ejiofor is the star, and with good reason. He
brilliantly paints us, within the first few minutes, a picture of
Northup’s free life—a wife, two kids, musical talent, steady work—and
spends the rest of the film showing us what happens when that picture is
slashed to pieces. We see his descent into depression as his situation
begins to sink in, and his struggle to survive. Ejiofor shifts from
determination to despair, as Northup accepts the reality of his life and
what is necessary.
12 Years A Slave TRAILER 1 (2013) - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt Movie HD
Director :Justin Chadwick Producers :Anant Singh , Jeff Skoll ,Mohamed Khalaf, Al-Mazrouei Writer :William Nicholson (screenplay)
Studio : Imagenation Abu Dhabi ,Participant Media
Story by : Nelson Mandela
Stars :Idris Elba ,Naomie Harris
Music :Alex Heffes
Country :South Africa
Language : English
Release Date : 29 november 2013 (in Theaters)
Running Time : 146 minutes
Plot
"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" is based on South African President Nelson Mandela's autobiography of the same name, which chronicles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild the country's once segregated society. Idris Elba ("Prometheus") stars as Nelson Mandela with Justin Chadwick ("The Other Boleyn Girl") directing.
Movie Review
Not Yet
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) Official Trailer (HD) Idris Elba, Naomie Harris
Director :Alexander Payne Producers :Ron Yerxa, Albert Berger
Studio : FilmNation Entertainment
Writer : Bob Nelson
Stars :Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb
Music :Mark Orton
Country :United States
Language : English
Release Date : 15 november 2013 (USA)
Running Time : 115 minutes
Plot
"NEBRASKA" is a father and son road trip, from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska that gets waylaid at a small town in central Nebraska, where the father grew up and has scores to settle. Told with deadpan humor and a unique visual style, it's ultimately the story of a son trying to get through to a father he doesn't understand.
Movie Review
It may or may not be a coincidence that Alexander Payne’s new film, “Nebraska,” shares its name with Bruce Springsteen’s austere album from 1982. Nebraska is a roomy state, and Mr. Payne, born and raised in Omaha, has set three of his previous features at least partly in it (“Citizen Ruth,” “Election” and “About Schmidt”). But to my ear, at least, a specific Springsteenian echo announces itself early and deepens as this movie winds from Billings, Mont., across the Badlands and toward Lincoln, stopping for a while in the tiny and fictitious hamlet of Hawthorne. Beyond the folky intonations of the fiddle-and-guitar waltz (by Mark Orton) that accompanies the opening images (shot by Phedon Papamichael) and beyond the bleak beauty of the images themselves, there is something in the movie that brings to mind the haunting last line of the album’s title track: “Sir I guess there’s just a meanness in this world.” In the song, that cruelty is offered, from death row, as a shrugging excuse for murder. The only consequential violence in Mr. Payne’s “Nebraska,” based on a script by Rob Nelson, is a punch in the face that has been well earned by the recipient. (Lately Mr. Payne seems to allow himself one or two such righteous blows per movie: Think of George Clooney clocking Matthew Lillard in “The Descendants” and Sandra Oh busting Thomas Haden Church’s nose with a motorcycle helmet in “Sideways.”) This is a comedy, with plenty of acutely funny lines, a handful of sharp sight gags and a few minutes of pure, perfect madcap. But a grim, unmistakable shadow falls across its wintry landscape. The world it depicts, a small-town America that is fading, aging and on the verge of giving up, is blighted by envy, suspicion and a general failure of good will. Hard times are part of the picture, and so are hard people. One of those might be the man behind the camera. The easy (and almost by definition hypocritical) knock against Mr. Payne is that he is just another coastal snob poking fun at the good folks in the heartland, but the emotions that drive “Nebraska” are much more complicated than condescension. There is palpable nostalgia here, and real affection for the plain speech and democratic manners of the rural Midwest. There is also a strong current of anger, directed through the characters and at them, though it almost never rises to the surface. If it did, the Great Plains, which once sat at the bottom of a prehistoric ocean, might be flooded with tears of melodramatic rage. So much betrayal, so much disappointment, so much wasted potential and thwarted love. Almost none of which is directly expressed on screen. If Woody Grant (Bruce Dern), an elderly Hawthorne native long exiled to Billings, feels any resentment or homesickness, he isn’t about to say so. A taciturn grouch with a lifelong commitment to drinking and an often-stated desire to be left alone, Woody is first seen walking along a snow-fringed Montana highway, stooped and scowling in the wind. He wants to go to Lincoln, not to get in touch with his Cornhusker roots but because a company based there has sent him one of those sucker-bait sweepstakes letters implying that he may have won a million dollars. “I didn’t know they still did that,” says Woody’s younger son, David (Will Forte), and neither he; his brother, Ross (Bob Odenkirk); nor their mother, Kate (June Squibb), knows quite what to make of Woody’s conviction that a fortune awaits him a few states away. And the audience might wonder, too. Is he really that deluded? Suffering from dementia? Just not very bright? Kate, as forthright as her husband is vague, might endorse the latter view: The first words we hear her say to Woody are: “You dumb cluck!” (The last, uttered with more tenderness, are “You big idiot.”) She and Ross, a replacement anchor on local television, with an unseen family and a tidy comb-over, think it’s time to put Woody in a nursing home. David, whose life seems a bit stalled, decides to indulge his dad. He calls in sick to his job selling stereo equipment and sets off in his Subaru, the deputy fool on a fool’s errand, a weary Sancho to the old man’s Quixote.
Their journey stalls in Hawthorne, where “Nebraska” blossoms into a study of provincial American absurdity worthy of Preston Sturges. David is the exasperated conscience of the story, a guy clinging to his own decency — and trying to defend his father’s dignity — in the face of threats from within and without. Mr. Forte, a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member, is exactly nice enough to earn our sympathy without entirely winning our admiration. David either complains too much or not quite enough.
Woody is another matter altogether, and Mr. Dern turns this inarticulate, alcoholic lump of humanity — too passive to be a monster, too distracted to be charming — into a great screen character. He is far from heroic, or even noble, but Woody’s stubbornness, and the waves of unacknowledged feeling that emanate from his grizzled, shapeless face and unsteady, bulky frame, make him worth caring about. Not that it’s easy for anyone.
David and Woody land at the home of Woody’s brother and-sister-in law and their two cretinous sons. Woody renews his acquaintance with other family members and some old friends, many of them played by Nebraskans who aren’t normally professional actors. He also runs into Ed Pegram (Stacy Keach), his former partner in an auto-repair shop and the kind of pal who makes enemies redundant. When word gets out that the returned Montana prodigal is a newly minted millionaire, the smiles in Hawthorne grow wider and more predatory. A few people seem genuinely happy for Woody — he gets a round of applause at the steakhouse, thanks to good old two-faced Ed — but it is hard to tell, given the studied blandness that governs every interaction.
Once Kate arrives, things become a little clearer, and also more confrontational. Ms. Squibb, killed off early in “About Schmidt,” brings a jolt of tart comic energy — a dash of vinegar in the mashed potatoes. Kate’s blunt honesty is in many ways the key to “Nebraska,” balancing both Woody’s sad illusions and the smiling duplicity of almost everybody else.
You can say that Woody and Kate are lucky to have each other, and lucky to have left Hawthorne and raised two devoted, reasonably well-adjusted sons. But part of the honesty of “Nebraska” is its skepticism about the very idea of luck, and about the dream of happiness we are all, as Americans, encouraged to pursue. Woody’s sweepstakes letter is an empty promise, something he alone refuses to acknowledge, even if you sometimes suspect he knows better. But it is not as if any of the other promises Woody might have counted on have given him much. He approaches the end of his life in a state far deeper than regret. His default answers to any question about his life are “Don’t know” and “Doesn’t matter.”
The chilling implication of this film is not that the old values of hard work, family and community have fallen away, but that they were never really there to begin with. Yet somehow the feeling that lingers after the last shot is the opposite of despair. If you listen to “Nebraska” all the way through, you will come away with this thought: At the end of every hard-earned day, people find some reason to believe.
Nebraska Official Trailer #1 (2013) - Alexander Payne Movie HD
The Best Man Holiday is a 2013 American Christmas comedy-drama film directed and written by Malcolm D. Lee, a sequel to the 1999 film, The Best Man.The film, released on November 15, 2013 by Universal Pictures, African-American stars Taye Diggs, Terrence Howard, Harold Perrineau, Morris Chestnut, Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, and Regina Hall, reprising their roles from the 1999 film along with the supporting cast.
Director :Malcolm D. Lee Producer :Malcolm D. Lee , Sean Daniel
Studio : Blackmaled Productions, Sean Daniel Company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Relativity Media
Writer : Malcolm D. Lee
Stars : Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Nia long, Monica Calhoun, Morris Chestnut, Melissa De Sousa
Music :Stanley Clarke
Country :United States
Language : English
Release Date : 15 november 2013 (USA)
Running Time : 123 minutes
Plot
When college friends reunite after 15 years over the Christmas holidays, they will discover just how easy it is for long-forgotten rivalries and romances to be ignited.
Movie review
"The Best Man Holiday" is a reunion story, a reconciliation story, a get-down-on-your-knees-and-pray story, a circle-of-life story. But above all it is filmmaker Malcolm D. Lee's dissertation on the current state of the black experience as upscale, evolving, faith-based and agitated.
Lee's unruly follow-up to 1999's "The Best Man," his sprawling ensemble comedy about a tight circle of African American college friends and a falling-out during a wedding, picks up 15 years later after countless grown-up issues have had time to settle in.
Be ready to reach for a tissue, say "amen" and sigh more than a few times, for the film has all the chaos and clutter of a big holiday gathering.
The original's racy comedy, cast and caricatures return. But there are serious, sober issues propelling the stories. It takes a bit of doing, but here's how Lee sets the table: Lance (Morris Chestnut) and Mia (Monica Calhoun), the handsome football superstar and his saintly wife, whose premarital dalliance caused the original friction, are hosting the reunion. He's on the verge of a record-breaking run in the Christmas Day game — and a surprise retirement. She's determined to patch up the past in the face of pressing health concerns.
Harper (Taye Diggs) is a bestselling author, Lance's best man and Mia's dalliance. He and Robyn (Sanaa Lathan), his smart significant other, are finally expecting after years of costly and heartbreaking fertility treatments. Julian (Harold Perrineau) and Candace (Regina Hall), the social activist and the stripper, are now happily married with kids. But a YouTube video of "Candy's" earlier indiscretions has gone viral and funding for the school Julian runs has taken a hit.
Driven career girl Jordan (Nia Long) has gotten more successful and a little closer to a commitment with a new boyfriend named Brian (Eddie Cibrian), who is, gulp, white — prepare yourself for a lot of corny vanilla and latte jokes. The loose cannons of the group are looser and more lethal. Shelby (Melissa De Sousa) is a reality-TV superstar with an entitled ego to match, and the smoky, sultry Quentin (Terrence Howard) is still drifting and still making trouble. As he was in the first film, Quentin is responsible for fueling much of the conflict, and Howard is smooth as silk in navigating that minefield.
The strength in Lee's films is never in the bombast or its blaxploitation indulgences but in quiet conversations. When the hyper-sexualized showboating and the explosive temper tantrums fade back, reality in the form of real human relationships slip in. The writer-director creates complex interconnections among each of the friends, but the central one remains the Lance-Harper dynamic.
Beyond the specifics, which involve Harper's hope of resurrecting his struggling career with a biography on Lance, the core theme is how men show their vulnerability. When that raw need is exposed by any of the characters, the film is at its finest.
Running parallel are the women's issues. Lathan's long-suffering pregnant wife and Long's career sophisticate are particularly well-drawn female characters. It is refreshing to see women allowed to step beyond the stereotypes, with the actresses bringing an intelligent authenticity to the roles. Shelby, on the other hand, is all stereotype, all the time, with a capital "B."
Even with excesses, the performances are solid. If anything, the intervening years have given Lee a far more seasoned cast, and they do much to keep the film from completely unraveling, a constant threat.
Howard, meanwhile, is a menace to this society in all the right ways. The actor has built a thick portfolio of fine roles, including his 2006 Oscar nomination for the hip-hop bad boy in "Hustle & Flow." He is deliciously sleazy and keenly observant as Quentin. His eyes, heavy-lidded, and his smile, always ironic, never fail to improve the moment or explain what is really going on.
Director of photography Greg Gardiner, production designer Keith Brian Burns, costume designer Danielle Hollowell, with Stanley Clarke in charge of the music — always a major chord in Lee's movies — have helped polish the production to a high sheen.
"The Best Man Holiday" is Lee's most ambitious film. There is so much the writer-director wants to say about God, faith, fame, family and affluent African American life. The result is a joyous, raucous, righteous film but also a frustrating and disappointing one. Not quite the gift of the season some had hoped for.
source : loss angls times
