Cruise bounces through this romantic spy adventure with smooth-talking charm, ninja spy skills, and Diaz transforms from damsel in distress to partner in action with enthusiastic glee.
Tag: Viola Davis
‘State of Play’ – political intrigue with Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck on Netflix
Politics, journalism, and murder swirl through State of Play (2009), the American adaptation of the sharp, award-winning British mini-series. Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) is the old school reporter in rapidly evolving newsroom, still using an old IBM computer with the blinking cursor while everyone else is hooked up to the web. Della Frye (Rachel McAdams) […]
Oscar-winner ‘Fences’ on Peacock
Fences (2016) – Denzel Washington and Viola Davis earned Tony Awards for their performances in the 2010 Broadway revival of August Wilson’s play “Fences,” the story of a working class African-American family in 1950s Pittsburgh. With the blessing of Wilson’s widow (the playwright passed away in 2005), Washington brought the play to the big screen, […]
Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman cast ‘Doubt’ on Netflix
Take the title at face value: Doubt (2008), directed and adapted for the screen by playwright John Patrick Shanley, does not offer answers. Rather, it challenges us to understand our own instincts to believe in the absence of proof. Sunny, optimistic idealist Sister James (Amy Adams), a young nun teaching history to junior high boys […]
‘Suicide Squad’ – Worst. Heroes. Ever. on HBO
“Worst. Heroes. Ever.” reads the tagline of Suicide Squad (2016), DC’s attempt to get a little scruffier and offer audiences a comic book movie more fun than the stuffy “Superman” reboots. It stirred dark humor and dark doings into the superhero movie, flirting with cynicism while bonding under fire, and it worked, at least if […]