Wind River

Review by Bob Ignizio

The frozen body of a young woman is discovered on an Arapaho reservation by US Fish and Wildlife Service officer (and skilled hunter/tracker) Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), setting the plot in motion in WIND RIVER. The discovery hits Lambert hard. The victim was a friend of his daughter, who herself died under mysterious circumstances a few years back. So when out of her depth FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) asks for Lambert’s help, he agrees.

Writer/director Taylor Sheridan previously wrote the screenplays for SICARIO and HELL OR HIGH WATER. Like those films, this is an intelligent, adult crime drama with a touch of social commentary. And also like those films, it arguably feels more exceptional than it is simply because the standards have been lowered. I don’t mean to take anything away from WIND RIVER, but this would just have been the level of quality audiences would have expected from a major studio drama in the seventies.

Captain America: Civil War

Review by Bob Ignizio

After all the mass mayhem, destruction, and death of the previous Marvel Cinmeatic Univers movies, most notably the two AVENGERS films, some people in that fictional world are justifiably concerned about super powered individuals taking the law into their own hands. The last straw is an incident in which The Avengers fight a bad guy who sets off an explosion to kill Captain American (Chris Evans). Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) uses her powers to move the blast away from Cap, but several innocent bystanders are still killed.

The United Nations wants oversight of these costumed crusaders. Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), riddled with guilt after being confronted by the mother of another casualty of a super powered throw-down, thinks this is a good idea. Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans), while recognizing the responsibility the heroes bear for this collateral damage, doesn’t.

I Saw the Light

Review by Pamela Zoslov

A great deal of fuss has surrounded the release of I SAW THE LIGHT, the new film biography of country-music legend Hank Williams, much of it coming from Williams' family.

After seeing a video of British actor Tom Hiddleston, who plays Williams in the movie, singing a Hank Williams song, Hank Williams III, Williams' grandson, posted a video on Facebook of himself performing “Move It On Over.”

Hank 3, as Williams petit-fils is known, wrote: “Here is how you do it, Tom. You got no Moan or Soul in your voice.” He later elaborated: “To do a Hank Williams movie the way it should be done, you need certain aspects in the mix. It goes way beyond having [an] American play the role of Hiram Hank Williams Sr. It needs to be an American from the South who has eat lived and breathed these kind of roles before.” Hank 3 suggested Matthew McConaughey, demonstrating an instinct for casting that apparently eluded Sony Pictures.

In Secret (opens in Cleveland February 21st exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

[IN SECRET opens in Cleveland on Friday February 21st exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Although set in late 1800s France, it would be fairly easy to rework IN SECRET (based on the novel Thérèse Raquin by Emille Zola) for contemporary times with just a little tweaking. Granted, people these days aren't likely to wind up in arranged marriages to their first cousins, but aside from small details like that the basic story is timeless: A pretty young woman stuck in a loveless marriage to an unpleasant schlub finds solace in the arms of the far more attractive friend of her husband. Inevitably the lovers plot do away with the man standing in the way of their happiness, but as they learn, murder seldom has a happy ending.

IN SECRET begins in almost Dickensian fashion as Therese (Elizabeth Olsen) is sent to live with her Aunt, the Madame Raquin (Jessica Lange) and sickly cousin Camille (Tom Felton) in their gloomy, joyless home. Even sunny outdoor scenes have a gray cast to them, and the future looms even darker for Therese when she learns that she is to be married off to her Camille.