The 355 - Movie Review

The Movie: The 355

The Director: Simon Kinberg

The Cast: Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o, Édgar Ramirez, Sebastian Stan

The Story: When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, a wild card CIA agent joins forces with three international agents on a lethal mission to retrieve it, while staying a step ahead of a mysterious woman who's tracking their every move.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye - Movie Review

The Movie: The Eyes of Tammy Faye

The Director: Michael Showalter

The Cast: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio

The Story: An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.

It Chapter Two - Movie Review

The Movie: It Chapter Two

The Director: Andy Muschietti

The Cast: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Bill Skarsgård, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean

The Story: Twenty-seven years after their first encounter with the terrifying Pennywise, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back.

Dark Phoenix - Movie Review

The Movie: Dark Phoenix

The Director: Simon Kinberg

The Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Evan Peters, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jessica Chastain, Scott Shepherd, Ato Essandoh, Halston Sage, Brian d'Arcy James

The Story:I have no idea.

2017 Recap - The Performances

In 2017, I watched more movies than I ever have in a single year which means there are tons of actors and actresses I could choose from to make this list. The most important things to me in my decision making process was how memorable and how affecting the performances were. You may not have heard of some of the people or the movies they are in because they are from film festivals or limited releases so I am hoping u have a chance to see them at some point.

Molly's Game - Movie Review

The Movie: Molly's Game

The Director: Aaron Sorkin

The Cast: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O'Dowd, Brian d'Arcy James, Natalie Krill, Stephanie Herfeld

The Story: The true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target.

The Huntsman: Winter's War - Movie Review

The Huntsman: Winter's War takes movie goers back to events that took place prior to Snow White and the Huntsman as we see where both the Huntsman and the evil Ravenna first came to prominence. The movie sees the return of Chris Hemsworth in the title role along with Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Nick Frost, Rob Brydon, Sheridan Smith, Alexandra Roach, and Sam Claflin.

Crimson Peak - Movie Review

Crimson Peak is a fantasy drama written and directed by Guillermo del Toro who's previous work includes Pan's Labyrinth, Blade 2, and Pacific Rim. The movie features acting performances by Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, Jim Beaver, Burn Gorman, Leslie Hope, and Doug Jones.

The Martian - Movie Review

The Martian is a science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott who is best known for creating Prometheus, Alien, and Blade Runner. The screenplay, written by Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods), is based off the best selling novel from author Andy Weir. The movie stars Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Michael Peña, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mackenzie Davis, and Donald Glover.

A Most Violent Year - Movie Review

A Most Violent Year was written and directed by J.C. Chandor whose previous efforts are the critically acclaimed movies Margin Call and All is Lost. The film stars Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyewolo, Alessandro Nivola, Albert Brooks, Elyes Gabel, and Christopher Abbott.

Interstellar - Movie Review

Interstellar is a film by Christopher Nolan about a team sent into space in search of a new home for mankind. This science fiction epic stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, John Lithgow, Wes Bentley, and Mackenzie Foy.

Mama - Movie Review

If you are a fan of Guillermo Del Toro, you will enjoy Mama, but not necessarily because he had anything to do with making the movie. Sure, his name is on the poster, but he did not direct, produce, or have any other creative input although it definitely has the look and feel of something he might have put together. That being said, director and co-writer Andrés Muschietti has created a movie that is truly creepy if not downright scary  and Jessica Chastain shows she can handle things that go bump in the night just as easily as she can take down terrorists.

Zero Dark Thirty - Movie Review

After achieving critical success with The Hurt Locker, it would seem that Kathryn Bigelow would be an ideal candidate to direct the story of how C.I.A. operatives and a Navy SEAL team took down Osama Bin Laden. Throw in a powerhouse cast headlined by Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, and Joel Edgerton and you have a movie that is sure to head down that same successful path.

Lawless (2012) - Movie Review

I will be the first to tell you that I am not a fan of Shia LaBeouf. To be honest, I'm not even sure how to pronounce his name. When I saw that he was going to play the starring role in a movie that features Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman, and Tom Hardy my first thought was that I might get to see Bane kick the crap out of Sam Witwicky for two hours. No such luck.

The Help - Movie Review

For a movie like 'The Help' to work, the cast would need to be spot on perfect and their portrayals of each character would have to be carefully crafted to avoid falling in to cliche and stereotype. For the most part, the actors succeed at pulling this off and what we are given is a heartfelt portrayal of a turbulent time for women of all races and classes.

The Tree of Life - Movie Review

'The Tree of Life' is the latest film by Terrence Malick who is a director that polarizes audiences with a unique blend of breathtaking cinematography and abstract story telling. His films tend to be meant as life lessons and not just put on the screen for Saturday matinee style entertainment and this one pulls out all the stops to give viewers a reality check on existence and purpose.

The Debt - Movie Review

The debt is a classic tale of espionage and intrigue set primarily in 1960's Berlin and is full of suspense along with several surprising twists and turns. You have three reluctant but extremely dedicated heroes and their brilliantly mad adversary who is at times on the level of Hannibal Lechter when it comes to creepy villainy. I enjoyed watching this movie as it doesn't try to force feed the story to the audience and also does a great job of weaving through plot lines that are revealed over two different time lines.