J.C. Chandor

CHICAGO – The effect of violence, centering on the roughest statistical year for it (1981) in New York City history, becomes a flashpoint for the way business has always been done. If someone isn’t intimidating their competitor with lawyers or shady marketing practices, a few hired goons can do the trick. Oscar Isaac takes the beating, both real and metaphorical, in writer/director J.C. Chandor’s “A Most Violent Year.”

CHICAGO – All is lost. It’s is a phrase uttered by countless adventurers across human history. It speaks of resignation and despair. We hear it in voiceover during PBS documentaries when the narrator reads someone’s diary or letter to explain the last little bit of a fellow human’s final stand against nature or the ardors of travel.

CHICAGO – Few films have captured the intensity of fighting against the inevitable pull of Mother Nature as J.C. Chandor’s gut-wrenching “All is Lost,” a showcase for Robert Redford like he hasn’t had in years and further proof that the writer/director of “Margin Call” is one to watch.

CHICAGO – J.C. Chandor’s CFCA-nominated “Margin Call” is the kind of film that makes me concerned about the lack of mainstream audience for adult drama. There’s no reason at all that this excellent drama with several major actors shouldn’t have found a much-larger audience. Lionsgate needs to go back to the drawing board and figure out what’s going on with their marketing and promotions since it’s total nonsense that a critically-acclaimed work like this and their even-better “Warrior” both flopped at the box office. “Warrior” was at least given a chance. “Margin Call” never went beyond 199 screens. So you probably haven’t seen it. You should.

CHICAGO – In our latest thriller edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 60 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of “Margin Call” starring Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore!