Burning Bright: Movie Review

Not much William Blake, but there is a tiger.

"Burning Bright" is a straight-forward, simply told, thriller. With a hurricane approaching, a house gets boarded up for the night. Problem is, it's also the site of a future safari park, complete with a tiger, which gets locked in the house with a young woman and her autistic brother.		2010 Directed by: Carlos Brooks Screenplay by: Christine Coyle Johnson and Julie Prendiville Roux Starring: Briana Evigan and Charlie Tahan
The title must surely come from the William Blake poem "Tyger". "Tyger Tyger. burning bright, In the forests of the night." In which, one of the significant themes is the question of how can God create such beautiful things and destructive things at the same time? If that theme is explored in this movie, only in the most simplistic way. Blake also touches on evil and its many forms. Here, we definitely see evil, and I found it interesting how they combined all its different configurations. The film presented us with nature's evil, man-kind's evil and evil from the animal kingdom. However, that is the extent of anything beyond a simplistic thriller. "Burning Bright" gives us a damsel in distress and a young boy living in his own world. The tiger is hunting them down and our heroine experiences her fair share of close calls, ingenuity, and love for her younger brother. Briana Evigan plays the damsel, and exactly as you would expect her to - with sexy clothes, lots of sweat, fear in her eyes, and she becomes her own hero. She may now be relegated to the horror/thriller genre. Her autistic younger brother is played by Charlie Tahan, who had his first major film role as the kid in "I Am Legend" (2007). The film does a good job of characterization to open the movie, and then we actually spend the majority of the movie with a real, live tiger - "burning bright, in the forests of the night."

Current Status:

"Burning Bright" is available on DVD.

Get Low: Movie Review

A stylized drama - part comedy, part psychology.

"Get Low" is, in part, considered a psychological drama, it's also one of those films that can be classified as almost anything because the actors are able to add so many layers of interest with intrigue and comedy. Starring an almost unrecognizably old Robert Duvall and a Jarmusch-styled Bill Murray, respectively, as a hermit wanting to host his own funeral and a funeral home director wanting his business.		2009 Directed by: Aaron Schneider Screenplay by: Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell Starring: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek

The Greatest: Movie Review

Filled with depression and grief.

The Greatest appears to have a dichotomy between its title and subject matter. You may expect a love story or a happy exploration of self and family, but it is a drama, in the saddest sense of the word.

It is a depressing tale of loss when a young man dies, his family and pregnant girlfriend grieve. Each character grieves in their own way, often with brusque and coarse actions resulting in many feelings of solitary - for both them and the audience. It is a slow and sorrowful film to watch; however, if you can get past all the depression and despondency, The Greatest does eventually live up to its title and delivers on its promises of being uplifting with life-affirmations of love and family.

All the actors really are phenomenal including Oscar-nominee Carey Mulligan and a new young actor I will be watching for, Johnny Simmons. For fans of loss and grieving films, The Greatest is good, but the great moments take a long time to form.


Recommended: Rabbit Hole.

This film stars Johnny Simmons, one of the best new actors of 2010 - explore the 10 Great Actors I Discovered in 2010.