Author: David Braga

The King’s Speech begins with a microphone. It is a benign image, one that elicits no fear or emotion from the audience. But a moment later, when we see the future King George VI gripped by panic in those anxious final moments before a public performance, the microphone begins to grow as menacing for us as it is for him.

The Fighter, like most inspirational sports movies, is the kind of film where you know the ending before it starts. It boils down purely to how director David O. Russell executes a familiar story, and in this case, the execution is top notch. Were it anything less it would’ve felt routine, but its performances and direction save the film from being generic and turn it into something quite exceptional.

Darren Aronofsky’s newest film is a twisting, hellish descent into the repressed and splintering mind of young ballerina Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a bold attempt to make art out of horror while making horror out of art.

Denis’ White Material is quietly explosive; a dreamy kind of war film that trades in gun fights and set pieces for rich landscapes and acting that does more with its characters eyes than their words.

127 Hours recreates the true story of the more than five days Ralston spent trapped alone in a barren Utah canyon, his arm crushed and pinned against the canyon wall by a dislodged rock. By all indications, he was a dead man; he was merely passing time with the formality of dying slowly.

Had Fair Game been released 5 years ago, it could’ve been a bombshell; arriving now, it feels like something of an afterthought.