Aaron Sorkin became one of my favourite screenwriters within the first five minutes of A Few Good Men. He went on to write movies like The American President, Moneyball and The Social Network and created TV series like Sports Night and The West Wing. His writing is smart, funny and fast, many times leaving me breathless trying to keep up the dialog. He creates action with words which is why he can create scenes that have you riveted.
Then you take one of his scripts to a director like Academy Award-winner Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) and you have the potential for real magic.
The story they have decided to tackle is Steve Jobs, and while it is best described as a bio-pic of the iconic Apple co-founder, it is actually a behind-the-scenes look at Jobs prior to three pivotal product launches ending with the unveiling of the iMac in 1998. While it is not a traditional biography, Sorkin is said to do a good job of painting a intimate portrait of the man at the epicentre of the digital revolution through just three major events in his life.
Also getting acclaim is Michael Fassbender as Jobs; Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, a member of the original Mac team; Jeff Daniels as John Sculley, CEO of Apple from 1983-1993; and Seth Rogen getting particular recognition from critics for his portrayal of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Director Barry Levinson is an incredible director who is able to balance both comedy and drama in movies like Diner, The Natural, Good Morning Vietnam and winning an Academy Award for Rain Man (which also won Best Picture). His latest is Rock the Kasbah, in which Bill Murray plays a has-been rock manager who takes his last remaining client on a USO tour of Afghanistan. When he finds himself abandoned, penniless and without a passport, he discovers a young Afghan girl with an incredible voice and manages her through that country’s version of American Idol. Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, Zooey Deschanel, Danny McBride, Scott Caan and Kelly Lynch round out the impressive cast.
If you are looking for action, check out Vin Diesel in The Last Witch Hunter. With the help of Elijah Wood and Michael Caine, Diesel plays an immortal who is tasked with the job of defending New York city from the covens who mean to destroy humanity by way of a horrific plague. In order to accomplish this, he must partner with a beautiful female witch, something he thought he would never do.
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is the sixth and supposedly the last in the haunting series. In this one, a family moves into a new home only to find a set of video tapes showing two young sisters being inducted into their grandmother’s demonic coven.
And finally, Jem and the Holograms is a musical fantasy drama based on the 1980s toy line and animated television series of the same name. If you don’t know the popular series, it is the story of four young women who aspire to become musical superstars.
