Saturday, September 25, 2010

The Town

If testosterone were oil, Ben Affleck's hypermasculine rendering of Chuck Hogan's Prince of Thieves is a gusher. And that's not a bad thing. This story of a team of Boston bank robberies who make the mistake of taking a hostage after one job (the wonderful Rebecca Hall) is a muscular tale that's well-told through spot-on performances by a trio of men's men -- an impressively pumped-up Mr. Affleck, The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner and Mad Men's chief mad man Jon Hamm. Mr. Affleck's impressive directorial debut Gone Baby Gone was not a fluke. This is a well-crafted and affecting film. Bravo.

Challengers

  Despite trailers and promos that suggest otherwise, Luca Guadagnino's Challengers is NOT a love story -- at least not in any conventio...