Category: Review

[av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/SusannTennyson.jpg’ attachment=313′ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Ruud Rating Elvis and Nixon Two Susanns/Half Tenneyson[/av_image] A small and quirky movie likely to get lost among the dazzling superhero and CGI orgy of summer blockbusters, Liza Johnson’s Elvis & Nixon is a bright kernel of fun that you might want to take… Continue reading Movie Review: Elvis and Nixon

[av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Susanns.jpg’ attachment=’78’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=10” appearance=’on-hover’] Batman vs Superman 2 Jacqueline Susanns [/av_image] The “Dawn of Justice” subtitle to the new Superman v. Batman movie is really referring to the “Dawn of the Justice League,” with two more films promised after this franchise startup, both to be directed by… Continue reading Movie Review: Batman vs. Superman by Zack Snyder

[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’] Ruud Rating 10 Cloverfield Lane 3 Tennysons [/av_image] In the early scenes of the new J.J. Abrams production 10 Cloverfield Lane, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is leaving her current relationship, and while driving through the night is suddenly the victim of a serious… Continue reading Movie Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane by Dan Trachtenberg

[av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/SusannTennyson.jpg’ attachment=313′ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Ruud Rating Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot Two Susanns/Half Tenneyson[/av_image] In a 2011 review of Kim Barker’s book The Taliban Shuffle, the account of Barker’s time in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a reporter at ProPublica and as South Asia bureau chief for The Chicago Tribune from… Continue reading Movie Review: Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

With the Oscars looming this weekend, I figured it really was about time I put forward my top ten list for 2015. These are, of course, only the top ten in my (relatively) humble opinion, and of necessity are only the top ten movies that I actually saw—there are certainly some fine movies that I… Continue reading Ruud Movie Reviews: Top 10 Movies of 2015

[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’] Ruud Rating Race 3 Tennysons [/av_image] Jesse Owens’ incredible four gold medals at Hitler’s 1936 Berlin Olympics, conceived as a showcase for the superiority of the Aryan race, is the most dramatic story in 20th century sports. That it took 80 years for… Continue reading Movie Review: Race by Stephen Hopkins

[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’] RUUD RATING Deadpool 3 TENNYSONS [/av_image] Prior to this weekend’s opening—an opening that established a new record for motion pictures premiering in February (and, by the way, for R-rated movies as well)—only Marvel comics aficionados would have heard of the super-anti-hero “Deadpool.” After… Continue reading Movie Review: Deadpool by Tim Miller

[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’] RUUD RATING Hail Ceasar! 3 TENNYSONS [/av_image] Hail Caesar, the newest film of the Coen brothers is not Fargo or No Country for Old Men or one of the brothers’ heavier films, and that seems to be what critics object to. That and… Continue reading Movie Review: Hail Caesar! by Joel and Ethan Coen

With the Academy Awards almost upon us and with a number of nominees that I have not reviewed, I’ve decided to put together a grab-bag of short reviews of four well-received smaller films that have been noticed—in some cases barely noticed—during this awards season: Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl nominated for four Oscars (for Lead… Continue reading Movie Reviews: 4 Mini Reviews for Awards Season

[av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Susanns.jpg’ attachment=’78’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=10” appearance=’on-hover’] RUUD RATING 13 Hours 2 JACQUELINE SUSANNS [/av_image] On the night of September 11-12, 2012, two American compounds in Benghazi, Libya—one an ill-defended consulate and the other a secret CIA base—were attacked and overrun by Libyan extremists, and in the process four Americans,… Continue reading Movie Review: 13 Hours by Michael Bay