Haiku Review: August: Osage County (2013)

Starring: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper, Ewan McGregor, Margo Martindale, Sam Shepard, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Abigail Breslin & Benedict Cumberbatch
Written by Tracy Letts
Directed by John Wells

After their patriarch goes missing, a dysfunctional family reunites and finds themselves once again at odds with each other and their cancer-stricken, pill-addled mother.


A family so
messed up that incest is the
least of its problems.

Grade: B-


c2014
By Daniel J. Hoag
August: Osage County is playing now in theaters nationwide.
IMDb

 

Haiku Review: In a World… (2013)

Starring: Lake Bell, Rob Corddry, Ken Marino, Demetri Martin, Fred Melamed, Nick Offerman, Michaela Watkins & Geena Davis
Written & directed by Lake Bell

A female vocal coach attempts to break into the male-dominated voice-over industry.


As long as it’s a
world where more women get to
direct films, I’m in.

Grade: B+


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
In a World… is playing now in select cities.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294677/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Haiku Review: Wadjda (2103)

Starring: Waad Mohammed, Reem Abdullah & Ahd
Written & directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour

A young Saudi girl wants to raise money for a bicycle but finds only discouragement in the religious and political culture around her.


You can’t keep a good
woman down – but whole cultures
sure keep on trying.

Grade: A-


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Wadjda is playing now in select cities.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2258858/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Haiku Review: Hotel Transylvania (2012)

Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi & Molly Shannon, David Spade
Screenplay by Peter Baynham and Robert Smigel
Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky

Dracula opens a monsters-only resort, but finds his world upended when a human finds his way in and falls for his daughter.


This Hotel should be
condemned and all residents
deserve to be staked.

Grade: D+


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Hotel Transylvania is available on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837562/?ref_=sr_1

(Blu) Haiku Review: Trouble with the Curve (2012)

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake & John Goodman
Written by Randy Brown
Directed by Robert Lorenz

An elderly baseball scout finds his career in jeopardy when his eyesight begins to falter.


This grumpy old man
really hates Moneyball, but
loves movie clichés.

Grade: D


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Trouble with the Curve is available on Blu-ray and DVD today.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2083383/

Haiku Review: Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Starring: Quvenzhané Wallis & Dwight Henry
Written by Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin
Directed by Benh Zeitlin

In her Louisiana Delta community known as The Bathtub, six-year-old Hushpuppy faces her father’s ailing health, devastating environmental conditions, and the threatening approach of an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs.


A stark, stunning realm
This is where the Wild things are
A young star is born

Grade: A


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Beasts of the Southern Wild is now playing in select cities.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125435/

Haiku Review: Elena (2011)

Starring: Nadezhda Markina, Aleksey Rozin & Elena Lyadova
Screenplay by Andrey Zvyagintsev & Oleg Negin
Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

An ailing older man tells his second wife that the bulk of his substantial estate will go to his estranged daughter – a decision that causes the wife to take extreme measures in order to protect herself and her impoverished son’s family.


Pathos like only
the Russians can muster up
Chekov would be proud

Grade: B+


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Elena is now playing in select cities.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1925421/

(Blu) Haiku Review: Lockout (2012)

Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Lennie James & Peter Stormare
Written by Stephen Saint Leger, James Mather & Luc Besson
Directed by Saint & Mather

A rogue CIA agent must rescue the President’s daughter from a cryogenic prison in outer space that has been overrun by dangerous criminals to avoid being sentenced for a crime he didn’t commit.


Frozen prisoners,
reheated, overdone plot.
Lukewarm as it gets.

Grade: C+


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Lockout is available on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1592525/

(Blu) Haiku Review: Pariah (2011)

Starring: Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Charles Parnell & Kim Wayans
Written and directed by Dee Rees

A teenage girl in Brooklyn gradually embraces her identity as a lesbian, which begins to put added strain on her parents already-fragile marriage.


A must-see for both
the persecuted and their
ignorant haters.

Grade: A-


c2012
By Daniel J. Hoag
Pariah is available on Blu-ray and DVD today.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1233334/

Haiku Review: The Descendants (2011)

Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard & Judy Greer
Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Directed by Alexander Payne

A man struggles with the discovery that his wife, who is in a coma after a boating accident, was having an affair.


‘Twixt this and Sideways,
Payne’s proving to be quite a
national treasure.

Grade: A


c2011
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Descendants is now playing in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1033575/