Directed by John Madden Shakespeare in Love plays like a Shakespearean play, namely Romeo & Juliet. There's the central love story, the forces that work against them (like a suitor, old English mafia, the playwright's rival) and then the bitter, tragic end. Knowing what the film was trying to do makes it, to me, a … Continue reading Shakespeare in Love (1998)
gwyneth paltrow
Hard Eight (1996)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Hard Eight, Paul Thomas Anderson's first feature film, is a beautiful crime film about a mysterious guardian angel named Sydney (Philip Baker Hall). The word that comes to mind when I think about this film is 'lurid,' and I'm not exactly sure why. I'm not even exactly sure what the … Continue reading Hard Eight (1996)
Contagion (2011)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh Contagion is an attempt at deadly realism, tracking a disease with about a 25% mortality rate over the course of a few months and through several different continents. The film jumps between countries and characters, tracking those affected and those responsible for coming up with a cure to a virus which … Continue reading Contagion (2011)
