Derek Cianfrance really knows how to pull at the heartstrings.  His first two films, the relationship horror masterpiece Blue Valentine (2010) and the ambitious family drama The Place Beyond the Pines (2013), are some the most emotionally powerful movies I have ever scene.  His newest film, The Light Between Oceans, is just a powerful.  This is a sprawling, intimate, stirring movie, featuring a trio of spectacular performances. Taking place after World War I, former solider Tom (Michael Fassbender) takes a job…

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama get the Linklater Before treatment in Southside With You, which focuses on the couple’s first date together when they were both colleagues at a Chicago law-firm. Did we actually need this movie?  Probably not, as I believe an account of what happened this night was already publicized at some point.  But, I am glad that we did.  Southside With You is a charming, smart, always interesting love story with…

Don’t Breathe should really be called Don’t Fuck with Stephen Lang.  This movie is an hour and a half of Lang kicking ass and taking names, as he plays a blind war veteran, known only as Blind Man, defending his house from three hooligans (Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zavatto) who break in trying to steal a large amount of money. The first half of the movie is incredibly intense.  The kids think they have it easy,…

I am claiming 2016 The Year of Animation.  So many animated movies have been released and most of them have been very, very good.  Finding Dory and Sausage Party led the way in terms of quality, but both may have just been jumped by Kubo and the Two Strings.  This is an imaginative, heartwarming, exciting film that features some of the best animation I have ever seen on screen. Kubo and the Two Strings follows our cycloptic…

It takes a wild and crazy director to bring a wild a crazy story to life.  War Dogs has both of these things.  Director Todd Phillips, known mostly for his comedic work, lends his directorial talents to this incredible true story about two twentysomething stoners (Miles Teller and Jonah Hill) who become international arms dealers. The story is almost too obscure to be real.  But Phillips knows how to handle chaos well and not over do…