nomadreader

Hysteria  by Tanya Wexler I really wanted to love this film. Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal in a historic feminist comedy? It should be right up my alley. The tone of the film overall is somewhat bizarre. At times it feels like a comedy, but at times it was much more serious. The actors often seemed as though they were acting in different films. Ultimately, I don't think the film's direction was clear enough. I've seen Sarah Ruhl's fabulous play In the Next Room , which also focuses on the invention of the vibrator, and perhaps the excellence of that play negatively impacted my enjoyment of Hysteria . There were some wonderful moments in this film, but overall, I was pretty disappointed this story and this cast only made a mediocre film. Rating: 3 out of 5 Availability: dvd Lee Daniels' The Butler by Lee Daniels Based very loosely on the true story of an African-American butler who served from Eisenhower to Reagan and lived to see Obama's presidenc...

Welcome to my Monday morning recap of my fabulous Friday night. Each week I see a film at the Spectrum Theater , my local independent movie theater. Then, I have dinner at my favorite restaurant, New World Bistro Bar . Crazy Heart  finally opened in Albany. The trailer was amazing. Jeff Bridges has won a slew of Best Actor awards, including the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award, for his role as Bad Blake, a washed up country singer.  Crazy Heart  is a beautiful film. Bad Blake is a difficult person to watch at times. He's an alcoholic. He's self-destructive. He's a brilliant singer and songwriter, but he's wasting away. Jeff Bridges does an amazing job. Bad Blake is not a character you want to root for and one I knew I was too smart to hope for, but I did anyway. As wonderful as Jeff Bridges was, Maggie Gyllenhaal gives the film's best performance. I'm even more convinced she is the best actress of my generation. As Jean, a music reporter and...