REVIEW: Legend

Directed by Brian Helgeland
2015 Crime Biography
2 hours 11 minutes
From Universal

Starring
Tom Hardy
Emily Browning
Christopher Eccleston
David Thewlis
Colin Morgan
Chazz Palminteri
Kevin McNally
Tara Fitzgerald
Paul Bettany

REVIEW: Trumbo

Directed by Jay Roach
2015 Biographical Drama
2 hours, 4 minutes
From Bleecker Street Media

Starring
Bryan Cranston
Diane Lane
Helen Mirren
Michael Stuhlbarg
Elle Fanning
David James Elliott
John Goodman
Louis C. K.
Alan Tudyk
Roger Bart
Dean O'Gorman
Christian Berkel
Richard Portnow
Adewale Akinnuoye-Adbaje

REVIEW: Spotlight

Directed by Tom McCarthy
2015 Historical Drama
2 hours, 8 minutes
From Open Road Films

Starring
Mark Ruffalo
Michael Keaton
Rachel McAdams
Liev Schreiber
John Slattery
Brian d'Arcy James
Stanley Tucci
Billy Crudup
Jamey Sheridan
Neal Huff
Len Cariou

REVIEW: Secret in Their Eyes

Directed by Billy Ray
2015 Mystery Thriller
1 hour 41 minutes
From STX Entertainment

Starring
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Nicole Kidman
Julia Roberts
Alfred Molina
Dean Morris
Joe Cole
Michael Kelly
Zoe Graham

Warner Bros

Certain things stand out as I think of each of the major studios.  Each has a definable leader, someone who has groomed and guided his studio before, during and sometimes after the Golden Age of Hollywood.  In those days the studios yielded massive power.  Each studio, of course, had its own unique story full of drama, pathos, triumphs.

REVIEW: The 33

Directed by Patricia Riggen
2015 Drama
2 hours 7 minutes
From Warner Bros and
Alcon Entertainment

Starring
Antonio Banderas
Rodrigo Santoro
Juliette Binoche
Gabriel Byrne
Lou Diamond Phillips
Mario Casas
Juan Pablo Raba
Bob Gunton
James Brolin

Jane Wyman

Talk about endurance.  She started in movies in 1932 and made her last one in 1969.  She appeared in 86 movies and after she quit she went on to star in a popular nighttime soap opera for nine years and became the highest paid woman in television.  She outlasted most of her famous contemporaries.  What a trouper.

Gene Tierney

Her boss, Fox head honcho Darryl F. Zanuck, referred to her as the most beautiful woman in the history of movies.  That's quite a statement considering the bevy of beauties he bedded and hired for his famous studio.  Perhaps Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr and others may have taken exception to his comments but I think it goes without saying that Gene Tierney was exceptionally beautiful.

Good 40s Films: Murder, My Sweet

1944 Film Noir
From RKO Pictures
Directed by Edward Dmytryk

Starring
Dick Powell
Claire Trevor
Anne Shirley
Otto Kruger
Mike Mazurki