Jackie
Director: Pablo Larraín
Screenwriter: Noah Oppenheim
Cast: Natalie Portman, Greta Gerwig, Peter Sarsgaard, Max Casella, Beth Grant, Billy Crudup, Richard E. Grant, John Hurt
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Rated R | 99 minutes
Release Date: December 2, 2016

Contemporary biopics no longer adhere to the traditional means of telling the entire life story of a subject. Nowadays, audiences are only given a small fraction of it. But it is in that stage of life that truly defines the subject. In Jackie, we see Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy at her most vulnerable point in life, where she has to deal with the grief of losing her husband, the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. The traumatic event would be enough to shatter anyone, but it is what she does in the aftermath that will truly cement her name among the greatest of First Ladies. With a strong script from Noah Oppenheim and director Pablo Larrin giving an outsider’s perspective on the matter, Jackie is hauntingly poetic view of an untold story. My full review below.

HBO’s latest original series, Vinyl, debuted this past Sunday, and now the network has announced that they have ordered a second season. This first season will consist of ten episodes total.

The series comes from Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street, The Departed) and Terence Winter (The Sopranos), the duo behind HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, as well as The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and Rich Cohen (Magic City).

The Confession
Netflix Streaming
DVD
Written and Directed by Brad Mirman
Starring Kiefer Sutherland, John Hurt, Daniel London, Michael Badalucco, Max Casella
MRB Productions
Originally Webcast: March 28, 2011

If you’re after a short, quick blast on Netflix, look no further than The Confession. Initially a webisode series, now compiled into one 60-minute adventure, The Confession features a stunning cast including Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt, as the short film delves into the shocking confession of a violent assassin to a shocked priest.

What begins as an acknowledgment of countless murders evolves into a lengthy and deep discussion on moral values and existentialism. As the discussion takes its turns, we flashback to The Confessor’s (Kiefer Sutherland) jobs – specific ones indicating the variation of the needs of his employment, while The Priest (John Hurt) is forced into a situation where he must continue listening.