The Place Beyond the Pines: Movie Review

A story of trashy criminals and dirty cops evolving into one about fathers and sons and life.

What he have here is a story about fathers and their sons. In fact, three separate stories - each one leads into the next. A lesser movie would have just told one story, but "The Place Beyond the Pines" is larger in scope and needs all three parts to tell the complete story. A life is not just about your life but those you affect and those you leave behind for years to come.		2012 Directed by: Derek Cianfrance Screenplay by: Derek Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, Derek Marder Starring: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper

Straight A's: Movie Review

Simple family dynamics haphazardly put together.

"Straight A's" is a simple family drama. The mysterious Uncle Scott (Ryan Phillippe) and his drug use and slacker attitude is a bad influence on the Henderson kids. Uptight Katherine (Anna Paquin) just wants him out of the house and wants her distant husband William (Luke Wilson) back home. The kids are pretty separate from all of this - they have their own story line where Scott shows them that "there's more to life than getting straight A's."		2013 Directed by: James Cox Screenplay by: David Cole Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Anna Paquin and Luke Wilson

Spring Breakers: Movie Review

Breaks the spring-break-genre mold by telling a dark story of college girls going to
darker and darker places.

“Spring Breakers” takes the spring break vacation and turns it on its head. It’s about everything that spring break represents and nothing it represents all at the exact same time. Four college girls do in fact go to Florida for spring break; they do in fact wear bikinis, get drunk, and do drugs. The film isn’t lying when they say that’s what it’s about. But it takes that culture and places it in a whole new genre.		2012 Directed by: Harmony Korine Screenplay by: Harmony Korine Starring: Ashley Benson, Vanessa Hudgens, Rachel Korine, Selena Gomez and James Franco