REVIEW: All Is Lost

Directed by J. C. Chandor
2013 Drama
1 hour 46 minutes
From Lionsgate

Starring
Robert Redford

REVIEW: 12 Years a Slave

Directed by Steve McQueen
2013 Drama
2 hours 13 minutes
From Fox Searchlight

Starring
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Michael Fassbender
Lupita Nyong'o
Benedict Cumberbatch
Sarah Paulson
Paul Giamatti
Alfre Woodard
Paul Dano
Michael B. Williams
Brad Pitt

REVIEW: The Counselor

Directed by Ridley Scott
2013 Drama
1 hour 57 minutes
From 20th Century Fox

Starring
Michael Fassbender
Penélope Cruz
Cameron Diaz
Javier Bardem
Bruno Ganz
Natalie Dormer
Rosie Perez
John Leguizamo
Goran Visnjic
Rubén Blades
Brad Pitt

The Directors: John Schlesinger

Gay, London-born John Schlesinger was a fixture of the British New Wave in the 1960s before he became famous in America.  That happened in 1969 when his first American film, Midnight Cowboy, caused a considerable stir while winding up winning Oscar's best picture and Schlesinger nabbing best director.  He would direct 17 films in all with his best work following immediately after Cowboy.  His output was slender and his acclaimed films even smaller, but he made his mark.  Those of us who followed his work did so with unbridled admiration.

REVIEW: The Fifth Estate

Directed by Bill Condon
2013 Drama
2 hours 8 minutes
From Tristar & Dreamworks

Starring
Benedict Cumberbatch
Daniel Brühl
David Thewlis
Carice van Houten
Laura Linney
Stanley Tucci
Anthony Mackie
Dan Stevens

Did He Quit Us?

Richard Beymer is famous for playing Tony in the 1961  musical, West Side Story.  It may very well be the best American musical ever made, certainly one of the most iconic, and he was the male star.  Quite an accomplishment in his field.  History will not forget him or at least not the role he played.  To this day he has made only 22 theatrical movies (most of them utterly forgettable), a decidedly small effort considering he started his career as a young boy in the early 1950s.

REVIEW: Captain Phillips

Directed by Paul Greengrass
2013 Drama
2 hours 14 minutes
From Columbia Pictures

Starring
Tom Hanks
Barkhad Abdi
Barkhad Abdirahman
Faysal Ahmed
Mahat M. Ali
Michael Chernus
Catherine Keener

The Directors: John Sturges

He was known primarily as an action director, focusing mainly on westerns and war films and it is those westerns, of course, that originally caught my attention.  He did some routine work in both categories but would go on to make one of the best westerns and best war films of alltime, both starring Steve McQueen.

REVIEW: Gravity

Directed by Alfonso Cuarôn
2013 Sci Fi Drama
1 hour 30 minutes
From Warner Bros.

Starring
Sandra Bullock
George Clooney

The Boys in the Band: Favorite Movie #7

1970 Drama
From Cinema Center Films
Directed by William Friedkin

Starring

Kenneth Nelson
Leonard Frey
Cliff Gorman
Frederick Combs
Laurence Luckinbill
Keith Prentice
Peter White
Reuben Greene
Robert La Tourneaux