The Town

The Town - doing it better than Point Break since 2010.

In 1997, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon gave us a soft an emotional tour of Boston in Good Will Hunting, as they knew it growing up. They explored the values of hope and family. In 2007, ten years later, Ben Affleck went it alone and took us back to Boston with Gone Baby Gone, exploring themes of loss and grief, right and wrong. In 2010, Affleck took us to the doorstep, sat us down on the curb, and said "Watch." The town, Charlestown, to be specific, lives and breathes by itself - the central hub of bank robberies in New England. The film's opening quotes tell us that the trade is almost a birthright - something you're born into, or against. And for the four lads in this film, it's the only life they know. And they'll go to incredible lengths to protect it. 

More after the cut--

In Honor Of - Rebecca Hall

Starting this month, with the week or so left, I'm honoring a new face every month. With the use of IMDb's "Random Name", it'll be a new director/actor/actress/writer/whatever. It's a way to pay homage to some of the people who might not get enough credit, a way to build a bigger backlog of older reviews on this site, and to point the filmgoer's who follow this blog in the direction of movies they might not be familiar with otherwise. 

With this late entry, I'm lucky that Rebecca Hall doesn't have too big a filmography yet. Only about ten or so theatrical releases under her belt. 

More after the cut--

The State of the Race - Our Screenplays

In part three of our discussion on how things might shape up on Oscar nomination morning, we're brought to this - the Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay categories. Several new faces will be nominated alongside a handful of Academy veterans, each deserving of their place. But only two will take home the above naked gold man. 

So. Let's get down to brass tacks. Or, gold tacks, if you will.

Pete Postlethwaite, thanks for my childhood.

Pete Postlethwaite, 1946-2011

British actor, rightly knighted, has passed away. After a long battle with cancer, we're now afforded the chance to look back on his remarkable career.