-
Best Picture Reviews: The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game
And here come the Brits… The Theory of Everything BY NIKKI TURNER The Theory of Everything follows the story of renowned scientist, Stephen Hawking. The film starts with Hawking’s early days at Cambridge, and goes on till his meeting with the queen for the first time. Eddie Redmayne portrays Stephen Hawking and Felicity Jones his first wife, Jane. Redmayne and Jones hold together a somewhat confusing timeline with their stunningly emotional—and in Redmayne’s case—physical performances. Against the backdrop of Hawking’s scientific accomplishments, the film hones in on the relationship between Stephen and Jane. The film is emotional and truly shows the difficulty the pair faced in living with Hawking’s early…
-
Best Picture Reviews: American Sniper, Selma, Birdman
American Sniper BY NADIRA CHAND Following the U.S. Embassy bombings in 1998, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is motivated to enroll as a Navy Seal. Calling upon his hunting instincts, Kyle quickly establishes himself as a notorious sniper, referred to as a “legend” amongst his peers. Although he is hesitant to kill, he pushes forward under the pretext of protecting his country. Four tours later, Kyle has become estranged from his wife and his children. A hero in his own right, Kyle struggles with separating reality from the traumatic incidents of the war. Based on the memoir American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by…
-
Best Picture Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel
BY LISA BASNETT Fans of quirky, deft director Wes Anderson will delight in his ever-distinctive style of direction and writing in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Anderson’s film begins in a grand hotel in 1932 and traipses through mountainous personal and geological territory. Featuring an effete Casanova/concierge played by Ralph Fiennes, newcomer Tony Revolori disarmingly as a hotel lobby boy and Saoirse Ronan as his beguiling love thing, the film is acted as gloriously as it’s staged. A wonderful turn by Adrien Brody (at his greasiest) and Willem Defoe (at his most frightening) provide the film’s truly creepy antagonists. The lushly detailed visuals are equaled by the simultaneous whimsy and depth…
-
Best Picture Review: Whiplash
Ever since the Nominees for the 87th Academy Awards were announced last week, the industry has been abuzz with speculation on who was snubbed, who deserves a win, whose campaign was the most effective– you get the idea. Here at On the Danforth Online, we decided we would watch all the nominees for Best Picture and review them for your benefit. All in the interest of good journalism, of course– nothing to do with avoiding that slush pile of paper called “work.” Leading up to the awards on February 22nd, look out for a review or two a week (tagged: And the Oscar Goes To…) to get you all caught…
