Academy Award-winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell brings us Saltburn. It’s a beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire. Student Oliver Quick, played by Irish actor Barry Keoghan, struggles to find his place at Oxford University.
He finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, played by Jacob Elordi. Felix invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.
Rosamund Pike, Alison Oliver, Carey Mulligan, Richard E. Grant and Ewan Mitchell also star in the movie.
Based on a book by Börge Hellström and directed by Andrea Di Stefano, The Informer follows an honorably discharged Special Ops soldier, played by Joel Kinnaman. Pete Koslow’s world turns upside-down when he is jailed after a fight to protect his wife, played by Ana de Armas.
He’s given a chance for early release by becoming an informant for the FBI agents, played by Rosamund Pike and Clive Owen. He uses his covert skills in an operation to take down The General. I believe, played by Sam Spruell. He is the most powerful crime boss in New York.
An FBI sting meant to finally earn Koslow his freedom results in the death of an undercover NYPD cop. Koslow was caught in the crossfire between the mob and the FBI.
The General insists Koslow takes the heat and sends him back to prison to spearhead a drug operation from inside, and the FBI affirms that going back to jail to do The General’s bidding is the only way for Koslow to keep his deal with them alive.
Caught in a world of impossible choices, Koslow must return to prison, where he formulates a plan to escape the clutches of three of New York City’s most influential organizations –the mob, the NYPD and the FBI –to save himself and his family.
Di Stefano is best known as an actor. He also directed Escobar: Paradise Lost and Last Night of Amore.
Directed by Matthew Heineman, A Private War is a true story based on Marie Colvin, played by Rosamund Pike, life as a war correspondent. Some consider her one of the best war journalists of our time.
I watched the movie on DVD and amazed at how much Pike looked and sounded like Colvin. We hear Colvin talk at the beginning and see her at the end of the movie. The comparison is easy.
It is not a positive story, but about a foreign news correspondent who truthfully reported the atrocities of war in the middle east. Her life was not a healthy life or a happy life, but she lived how she wanted to live, dangerously, reporting about the victims of war.
I encourage you to see the movie or, at least, look at the trailer and movie clips within this article. I hope you come to understand this woman’s crazy plight.
The movie follows Colvin as Pike plays her as an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the front lines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless, while constantly testing the limits between bravery and bravado.
After being hit by a grenade in Sri Lanka, she wears a distinctive eye patch and is still as comfortable sipping martinis with London’s elite as she is confronting dictators. Colvin sacrifices loving relationships, and over time, her personal life starts to unravel as the trauma she’s witnessed takes its toll. Yet, her mission to show the true cost of war leads her — along with renowned war photographer Paul Conroy, played by Jamie Dornan of Fifty Shades movies.
They embark on the most dangerous assignment of their lives in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.
The movie clips show different points in Colvin’s life and the toll it took from her well-being.
“It has been a deeply personal journey sharing the extraordinary story of Marie Colvin in A Private War,” stated filmmaker Matthew Heineman. “We are so thrilled to be able to finish the film in time to premiere at TIFF and honored to share with the audiences there.”
Watch the trailer, and easily you will see the documentary style of Heineman. It should be noted that Heineman and actress Charlize Theron are among the producers of this movie.
Directed by Scott Cooper, Hostiles follows a stellar cast down a turbulent, powerful and decisively impressive western. The Blu-ray/DVD is now available with behind-the-scenes interviews and featurettes.
The movie is set in 1892 and focuses on a legendary Army captain, played by Christian Bale, who is ordered to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief, played by Wes Studi, back to his tribe and family. The captain unwillingly agrees to his assignment.
The journey is distressing and death-defying as they trailer from Fort Berringer to the grasslands of Montana. They chance upon a young widow, played by Rosamund Pike. Her family was brutally murdered on the plains.
She joins the journey and they all work together to overcome the challenging landscape, hostile Comanche, and ruthless frontiersmen they run into along the way.
Watching the trailers and clips, the movie is pure grit and action.
Directed by Amma Asante, A United Kingdom follows the lives of two very extraordinary people during a time of significant change in South Africa. Based on the true story of the forbidden love of King Seretse Khama of Botswana, played by David Oyelowo, and Ruth Williams, played by Rosamund Pike, a white woman from London, which caused an international uproar when they married in the late 1940s just as apartheid was being introduced into South Africa. It was a decision that altered the course of African history.
It’s good to see Pike in this role. Definitely, it is a unique role from Gone Girl. Asante directed Belle, another true story about crossing the racial line.
