Most of us who fell for Carey Mulligan’s star-making turn in one of the best pictures of 2009 (An Education) were curious to see where she’d pop up next. Of course, the first film would probably be something she filmed before the cavalcade of praise heaped on her last year and possibly something even shot before she played Jenny for Lone Scherfig. And now we know that film is The Greatest, a tearjerker co-starring Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon from feature debut writer/director Shana Feste. Traveling ground that has certainly been trod before in the world of dramatic film, The Greatest still finds ways to make the clichés effective enough to merit consideration when choosing your weekend’s entertainment.

There’s a shot near the beginning of The Greatest as the Brewer family rides home from a devastating funeral that goes on well past the point when other editors and directors would have cut. A mother who lost her son (Sarandon) stares out one window. A boy (Johnny Simmons) who lost his brother stares out the opposite. And the patriarch (Brosnan) merely stares forward. Clearly, The Greatest is going to be about grief and plenty of it. But it’s the length of the shot that lends it credence and makes it clear that this is not a film for the faint of heart. You will ride with this family all the way to the other side of grief and be practically exhausted by the end if you’re the kind to get emotional at the movies. This isn’t just a tearjerker; it’s a weeper.

The funeral from which the Brewers are returning is that of their oldest son Bennett (Aaron Johnson of Kick-Ass), who happened to have finally started up a relationship with the unrequited love of his life, Rose (Mulligan), just before he died. In fact, he got Rose pregnant. So, shortly after Bennett’s death, a three-months-knocked-up Rose appears on the doorstep of the Brewer family and tells them the good news. Through flashbacks, we learn of the ...Read More

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done is definitely a film for fans of the auteur theory; those that love picking apart the work of unique directors like the two men whose fingerprints are so clearly on this bizarre hybrid – directors Werner Herzog and producer David Lynch. Those of you not just familiar but well-versed in the

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With Clash of the Titans hitting theaters in a recently-revised-to-3D version that will ultimately make more money by riding the trend than it would have in the old-fashioned 2D format that it was in just a few months ago, it got our twisted minds thinking….

What upcoming films could be enhanced by a last minute dimensional polish a la ...Read More

The unnecessary remake of Clash of the Titans blurs the line between spectacle and bloat in such a way that it commits what will be its cardinal sin for many teens buying tickets the weekend by turning this promised God-sized battle into a lesson in boredom. With a plot so perfunctory that the film could be watched dialogue-free and completely understood, rarely has

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Love her or hate her (it all seems irrelevant at this point), Miley Cyrus has star power and a loyal fan base, and she’s taking over your theaters. Nicholas Sparks wrote The Last Song specifically for her, and the film serves as Miley’s foray into acting outside of the Hannah Montana franchise. She plays a rebellious girl named Ronnie, who

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Steve Pink's Hot Tub Time Machine delivers exactly what you'd expect from its descriptive title and even a bit more. The most spoiler-named film since Snakes on a Plane isn't a perfect comedy but it comes a heck of a lot closer than most of its recent genre peers and should satisfy viewers willing to open their wallets for a

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DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon is a beautiful, original coming-of-age story that is easily the studio's best entry since Shrek 2 (yes, better than Kung Fu Panda) and could possibly be considered even better than any of the films featuring the ugly green guy. It's a delightful, gorgeous, honestly moving slice of adventure cinema that is the definition

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Bong Joon-ho firmly solidifies his place as one of the world's best filmmakers with the excellent Mother (Madeo), a film that would stand as the best in the career of most young filmmakers but faces stiff competition from the Korean director's amazing Memories of Murder and fantastic The Host, two films I considered for my “The 50 Best

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Very rarely have I been as wildly disappointed by a filmmaker I once adored as with Atom Egoyan's disastrous Chloe, a film that somehow drags down the great Julianne Moore, the talented Liam Neeson, and wonderful Amanda Seyfried into a morass of sleazy crap that's usually reserved for Cinemax around midnight. Nearly too stupid to be considered misogynistic

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The great Bong Joon-ho, director of Memories of Murder, The Host, and the new Mother (Madeo) called in for a brief interview via translator about his newest, award-winning work. Since this mini-interview – one that we all wished was longer but suffered due to some technical issues – Mother has won three Asian Film Awards for Best Picture, Best

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