Theory Thursday: Paul Greengrass is Overrated

Matt Damon in Jason Bourne

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way. 

Birthday Take: Barkhad Abdi in "Captain Phillips" (2013)

Barkhad Abdi

Welcome to The Birthday Take, a column dedicated to celebrating Oscar nominees and winners' birthdays by paying tribute to the work that got them noticed. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive retrospective, but more of a highlight of one nominated work that makes them noteworthy. The column will run whenever there is a birthday and will hopefully give a dense exploration of the finest performances and techniques applied to film. So please join me as we blow out the candles and dig into the delicious substance.

Review: "Captain Phillips" Survives Thanks to Hanks and Abdi's Amazing Performances

Tom Hanks

When it was first announced, director Paul Greengrass' latest Captain Phillips sounded like another broad action movie that would tinker with the true events and give us Hollywood's depiction of tragedy. However, once news began spurting from the New York Film Festival, the language changed to being about the incredible performances by Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi. Even then, the film's major hurdle was managing to turn the life of a boat captain who gets messed up with some Somali pirates into an intense, psychological journey. The result leans more towards success than failure most of the time.

Is "Captain Phillips" Going to Hijack Some Oscar Nominations?

Tom Hanks

Upon initial viewing of the trailer for director Paul Greengrass' Captain Phillips, the gut reaction that it was just another average thriller with very little offering. While Tom Hanks has been churning out promising work as of late (see last year's Cloud Atlas), I had my money set on Saving Mr. Banks as Hanks' return to the Oscar race. However, over the course of time and with several reviews pouring out, including The Daily Mail claiming that "Tom Hanks is at the top of his game." At very least, this has become the surprising must-see that may just prove to be one of the unexpected upsets that I just didn't see coming.