Category: Review

Ruud’s Rankings: The Top Ten Films of 2016   With the Oscars just around the corner, it’s time for the annual and obligatory “top ten” list. First, of course, let me state my caveat: I did not see all of the movies that came out in 2016. I deliberately skipped some that were pretty clearly… Continue reading The Top Ten Films of 2016

The Founder John Lee Hancock (2017) [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’] John Lee Hancock’s new film The Founder, the story of McDonald’s Corporation’s CEO Ray Kroc, opened in wide release on January 20, though it had originally been scheduled for an August release, and had been held back… Continue reading The Founder

Silence Martin Scorsese (2017) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/3-12.jpg’ attachment=313′ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Three Tennysons/Half Shakespeare[/av_image] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] It’s no secret that as a boy, before being seduced by the allure of filmmaking, Martin Scorsese wanted to be a priest. And of course much of his work (most obviously The… Continue reading Silence

Moonlight Barry Jenkins (2016) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/3-12.jpg’ attachment=313′ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Three Tennysons/Half Shakespeare[/av_image] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] One of the 2016’s most acclaimed independent films has at last made it to the cinema in Conway, so you’d better get to see it quick before it’s gone. Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight… Continue reading Moonlight

Patriots Day Peter Berg (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’] If you have ever been in a big marathon, a half-marathon, or even a 5K, with thousands of other runners, or stood around the crowded finish line cheering on somebody who was running, especially on a sunny spring… Continue reading Patriots Day

Jackie Pablo Larrain (2016) [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 4 Shakespeares [/av_image] One of the most acclaimed films of the silent era—indeed, a film often listed among the “top ten” films of all time—is Carl Theodore Dreyer’s 1928 classic The Passion of Joan of Arc. Dreyer’s… Continue reading Jackie

Hidden Figures Theodore Melfi (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’] 1961 was that moment in history when the federal government was drawn reluctantly into the Civil Rights movement and, under president Kennedy, began to challenge state laws, particularly in the South, that institutionalized racism in direct violation of… Continue reading Hidden Figures

La La Land Damien Chazelle (2016) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/3-12.jpg’ attachment=313′ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Three Tennysons/Half Shakespeare[/av_image] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] Damien Chazelle, last seen directing the intense and sometimes excruciating Whiplash in 2014, is not exactly the person you would expect to create the romantic, diaphanous musical fantasy La La… Continue reading La La Land

Manchester by the Sea Kenneth Lonergan (2016) [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 4 Shakespeares [/av_image] Prepare to be devastated. My father, a World War II veteran, once told me that the only movie he had ever seen that made him cry was William Wyler’s acclaimed 1946… Continue reading Manchester by the Sea/Fences

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Gareth Edwards (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’] The legend of King Arthur is a body of literary texts that has its roots in oral tales dating back some 1500 years. Over the centuries, new characters and new tangential tales have become… Continue reading Rogue One: A Star Wars Story