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: Nebraska (2013)

Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk & Stacy Keach
Written by Bob Nelson
Directed by Alexander Payne

A man reluctantly escorts his aging, alcoholic father to Nebraska when the old man becomes convinced that he’s won a million dollars in a sweepstakes.


ATTENTION! YOU MAY
(leave feeling like you) HAVE WON
A MILLION DOLLARS!

Grade: A-


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Nebraska is playing now in select cities.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821549/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Haiku Review: Philomena (2013)

Starring: Judi Dench & Steve Coogan
Written by Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope
Directed by Stephen Frears

Based on the true story of Philomena Lee, an older Irish woman who went in search of the son whom she was forced to give up for adoption nearly 50 years prior.


Judi Dench battles
evil nuns – what more could you
want from a movie?

Grade: B


C2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Philomena is playing now in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2431286/?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: The Way Way Back (2013)

Starring: Liam James, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Sam Rockwell, Allison Janney, Maya Rudolph, AnnaSophia Robb, Rob Corddry, Amanda Peet, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Written & directed by Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

On vacation with his mother and her emotionally abusive boyfriend, a shy teenager begins to come out of his shell after he befriends the employees of a local water park.


Although, most older
guys who friend kids at water
parks are pedophiles.

Grade: B+


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Way Way Back is playing now in select cities.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1727388/?ref_=sr_1

Haiku Review: The Conjuring (2013)

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor & Ron Livingston
Written by Chad Hayes & Carey W. Hayes
Directed by James Wan

Based on the true story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators who, in 1971, helped a family that was being terrorized by a demonic presence shortly after moving into a new home.


Prepare yourself for
the scariest film ever
made about clapping.

Grade: B


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Conjuring is now playing in theaters nationwide.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/?ref_=sr_1

Haiku Review: Mama (2013)

Starring: Jessica Chastain & Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Screenplay by Neil Cross and Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti
Directed by Andy Muschietti

When two young girls are taken in by their uncle and his girlfriend after living alone in the woods for several years, a haunting, maternal presence follows them to their new home.


Hey, for a little
extra free time, I’d let a
ghost watch my children.

Grade: C+


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Mama is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2023587/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Haiku Review: The Place Beyond the Pines (2013)

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Ben Mendelsohn, Bradley Cooper, Rose Byrne, Bruce Greenwood & Ray Liotta
Written by Derek Cianfrance, Ben Coccio & Darius Marder
Directed by Derek Cianfrance

When the lives of a motorcycle stunt rider and a rookie cop collide, their children suffer the devastating effects.


The film opens on
Gosling’s abs and then just goes
downhill from then on.

Grade: B-


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Place Beyond the Pines is playing now in select cities.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1817273/?ref_=sr_1

Haiku Review: The Guilt Trip (2012)

Starring: Barbra Streisand, Seth Rogen, Adam Scott, Colin Hanks & Yvonne Strahovski
Written by Dan Fogelman
Directed by Anne Fletcher

A son takes his over-attentive mother on a cross-country business trip to reunite her with a long-lost romantic interest.


Rogen makes a film
you can watch with your mom that
won’t mortify her.

Grade: B-


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Guilt Trip is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/23/13.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1694020/?ref_=sr_1

Haiku Review: This Is 40 (2012)

Starring: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, John Lithgow, Megan Fox, Albert Brooks & Melissa McCarthy
Written and directed by Judd Apatow

As they both turn 40, struggling married couple Pete and Debbie must figure out how to balance romance, careers, parents and children.


I’d have rather watched
two hours of Albert Brooks
in This Is 60.

Grade: B


c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
This Is 40 is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758830/?ref_=sr_2