Inside Out Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) According to director Pete Docter’s Inside Out, the human mind is a colorful place. It’s also complicated, conflicted, and perpetually changing. In that respect, the film is about as true to life in its intent (if not its execution) as any Pixar movie in recent memory. (Color-wise, of course, it’s pure fantasy. […]
The Next Barnes and Noble Criterion Sale
The question on every cinephile’s lips around the 15th of every month: “When is the next Barnes and Noble Criterion sale?” It’s true we’re spoiled twice a year, but that moment after you make your final, last-minute purchase is one of both satisfaction and disappointment. “Really, I’m not going to own another one of these […]
Ranking Every Pixar Film
A ranked countdown of the Pixar film catalog is the most basic of lists for a critic—something he or she could break out every year or so when the world’s foremost animation studio shares with us, the world, its next stroke of creative genius. And it’s that fawning fanboy attitude that’s prevented me from sharing […]
Results Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) It’s a narrow lane, but Andrew Bujalski owns it: the cinema of the weird shit people do when they’re alone. His last film, Computer Chess, touched on it, but Results goes there in a way that will make 95% of its viewers confused and uncomfortable. After all, the colorful posters with the […]
Jurassic World Review
RATING: (3 STARS) For the third straight Jurassic film, no one has a good answer to the obvious question: Why are we doing this to ourselves? Why is Isla Nublar a place human beings want to visit? Why are parents putting their kids on planes in order to be in the immediate vicinity of giant, […]
Entourage Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) There’s a moment deep into the Entourage movie when the guys are chastising their boy Vinny Chase (Adrian Grenier) for sleeping with Emily Ratajkowski (playing herself) moments after the financier of Vince’s directorial debut leaves her house. Vince begs his closest friends for some understanding, asking them to remember who they are. […]
San Andreas Review
RATING: (1.5 STARS) One should go into a movie like San Andreas assuming he or she will have a good time. There is no other reason for this movie to exist. It’s not an acting showcase. It isn’t saying anything unique about family dynamics. And for the love of God, it offers nothing in terms […]
Aloha Review
RATING: (3 STARS) You’re enjoyment of Cameron Crowe’s Aloha will likely be dependent upon how much you subscribe to and are interested in film’s auteur theory—or the idea that a director’s personal creative vision is the driving force behind a finished onscreen product. Filmmakers like Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, and Martin Scorsese are proof positive […]
That Night’s Wife Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) The words “crime drama” bring to mind shadowy characters doing dirty deals in back rooms or pool halls. Noir is token “crime drama,” and noir is awesome. But noir is not Yasujirô Ozu’s bag. His crime drama is still a Ozu film, but its inciting incident is a thrilling caper. It’s this […]
Mad Max: Fury Road Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Holy shit. Thirty years is a long time to wait for a new installment in a film franchise, but Mad Max: Fury Road overcomes this problem for a variety of reasons. Firstly, director George Miller simply doesn’t care if you’re familiar with what’s come before. He’s also smart enough to forge a […]
Avengers: Age of Ultron Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Because it begins, ends, and is about something, Avengers: Age of Ultron already has a leg up on most other Marvel movies. And boy, it needs that leg up because there are times when this feels like one of the laziest studio movies in years. At other times, however, it reaches the […]
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) If there’s ever been a movie title more truthful than The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, I don’t know what it is. This movie is the definition of fine. It goes down really easily because it doesn’t try to do too much. Because it can dispose of things like character introductions and […]
What Else I’ll Be Watching This Summer
I started my 2015 summer movie preview with a look at this year’s lineup of big-budget would-be blockbusters and continued it by taking a look at the handful of Oscar contenders on the schedule for the next couple months. Today, I wrap things up with nothing more than a brief announcement. Theater-going is one thing, […]
Will the Summer of 2015 Produce Any Oscar Contenders?
Earlier this week, I previewed this summer’s crop of big-budget would-be blockbusters and asked the question: What will be the biggest and best movie of the 2015 summer season? Today, my attention gets turned to the smaller films—the ones that would be happy to crack $30 million at the box office—in an attempt to jumpstart […]
The Biggest and Best Movie of the Summer of 2015 Will Be…
Before getting my hopes up too high for this summer’s seemingly promising crop of films, I decided to go back and assess the respective film lineups of the past three summers. 2014: Guardians of the Galaxy, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Maleficent, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Amazing […]
Furious Seven Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) The spectre of death hangs heavy over Furious 7, the latest in the mega-crazy-super-duper popular franchise based around the words “fast,” “furious,” and “family.” The big elephant in the room, of course, is the untimely death of Paul Walker, one of the franchise’s stars, which occurred off-set while filming was underway. His […]
