Category: Review

[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

[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 ROOM 4 Shakespeares [/av_image] When Lenny Abrahamson’s small, limited release film Room was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar last week, millions of fans across Arkansas doubtless said “do what, now?” The film has only recently come to Central Arkansas, and… Continue reading Movie Review: Room by Lenny Abrahamson

[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 The Revenant Two Susanns/Half Tenneyson[/av_image] The winner of this year’s Golden Globe award for best motion picture and best director is The Revenant. The word “revenant” means “one who has returned; especially one who has returned from the dead.” I would guess… Continue reading Movie Review: The Revenant by Alejandro Iñárritu

[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 The Hateful Eight 3 TENNYSONS [/av_image] It may be too early to start handing out Academy Awards, but I’ve got a candidate who has to be considered the favorite: Robert Richardson, cinematographer for Quentin Tarantino’s new epic film The Hateful Eight, presents… Continue reading Movie Review: The Hateful Eight by Quentin Tarantino

[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’] Ruud Rating The Big Short Three Tennysons/Half Shakespeare[/av_image] There are some things that too painful to look at head on, things that you have to laugh about because if you didn’t laugh you’d cry uncontrollably or go berserk with anger. One of those… Continue reading Movie Review: The Big Short by Adam McKay

[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 Star Wars: the Force Awakens 4 Shakespeares [/av_image] Tell me if you’ve heard this one: a small droid, in which is concealed information crucial to the success of the resistance, is marooned on a desert planet, where the droid joins forces… Continue reading Movie Review: Star Wars: the Force Awakens by J.J. Abrams

So, in the past week the nominees for both this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes were announced. As always happens on these occasions, there were a few surprises and a few perceived “snubs” among the nominees. Perhaps the biggest surprise this time was the passel of nominations for Trumbo, the biopic… Continue reading SAGs and Snubs: The Case of Trumbo vs. Spotlight

[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 MOCKINGJAY Two Susanns/Half Tenneyson[/av_image] As I complained vehemently after the release of Mockingjay, Part 1 last year, there was absolutely no narrative, aesthetic, or even reasonable excuse for splitting the final book in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy into two films. The… Continue reading Movie Review: Mockingly, Part 2 by Francis Lawrence