Author: Jay Ruud

The Magnificent Seven Antoine Fuqua (2016) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Tennyson-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’77’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] In 1954, classic Japanese director Akira Kurosawa brought out his masterpiece, Seven Samurai. That film, set in 16th century Japan, is the story of seven masterless samurai (or ronin) who are hired by a poor farming village… Continue reading The Magnificent Seven

Sully Clint Eastwood (2016) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Tennyson-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’77’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Ernest Hemingway famously defined courage as “grace under pressure,” and Captain Chesley Sullenberger, protagonist of Clint Eastwood’s new film Sully, is the exemplum of that definition. Eastwood, like Hemingway himself, has spent a career examining the notion of the… Continue reading Sully

[av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Shakespeare-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’76’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Ruud Rating Kubo and the Two Strings 4 Shakespeares [/av_image] Travis Knight (2016)   In a summer of forgettable releases and a lot of same-old, same-old repackaged “entertainment,” along comes a truly imaginative, visually rich fantasy that I’m fairly certain is the best… Continue reading Kubo and the Two Strings