Review: "Everest" (***½)

Editor's note: We're excited to introduce our newest writer, Alexis Ahlzadeh, with this review! We think you'll enjoy her personality and confidence as much as we do. Love to write about the movies you love (or hate)? Email lucy@reelga.com with any interest in contributing. -LD

Josh Brolin stars as Beck Wethers in "Everest."

In previous years, the Venice Film Festival has kicked off its opening night with highly buzzed about, critically-acclaimed films like "Black Swan," "Gravity," and "Birdman." This year, that opening slot belonged to "Everest," the tragically true story of a guided expedition to the top of Mount Everest in 1996. The innate visual grandeur of the journey up Mt. Everest was left to carry the film as it failed to delve into the many interesting characters and artistic aspects that could have set it apart from other stories of its kind.

Jessica Chastain one-two punch: "Zero Dark Thirty" (****½) and "Mama" (**½)

Top: Jessica Chastain stars in "Zero Dark Thirty"
Bottom: Chastain stars in "Mama" alongside Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

It's hard to think of another film career that has begun with quite the same bang that Jessica Chastain's has. After Meryl Streep transitioned from the stage to the big screen, it didn't take long for the Academy Award nominations and leading roles to start stacking up. Audrey Hepburn's star rose astoundingly quickly after her first Oscar-nominated performance in "Roman Holiday." But neither Streep nor Hepburn can claim such a seemingly overnight ascent to the top in both the critical and the commercial realms.

Chastain first turned heads in 2008, playing the title character in "Jolene." A small release that mostly played festivals, Chastain earned higher marks than the film itself. In 2011, the Chastain blitzkrieg began. "The Tree of Life," "The Help," "Take Shelter," "The Debt," "Coriolanus," "Wilde Salome" and "Texas Killing Fields" assured her face was in every multiplex and her name was on everyone's lips. A requisite Oscar nomination followed (for "The Help"), and again the next year (for "Zero Dark Thirty"). In 2012, starring roles in "Lawless" and "Zero Dark Thirty" catapulted Chastain beyond her label as a new, critically-beloved actress and into movie star territory. In the past two weeks, Chastain has held the number one spot at the domestic box office twice, and the top two positions simultaneously. The success of "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Mama" is crucially timed. Chastain is on everyone's minds just as Oscar ballots are currently in voter's hands. The hardworking actress could very well receive a trophy on stage at the Dolby Theatre next month.