BLU-RAY REVIEW: Green Lantern
Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern was an undeniable failure both financially (domestic box office of $116 million on a $200 million production budget) and critically (27% approval on Rotten Tomatoes). But go elsewhere if you’re looking for another reviewer to pile on. I won’t—I can’t. The film is too much fun. It’s a mess, mind you. […]
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Relatable characters, simple set-ups, deceptively complex emotions—these are calling cards of Jay and Mark Duplass, and those settling in to watch their latest, The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, should recognize these trademarks without much difficulty. It’s Mark’s (Steve Zissis) birthday, and he and his family are flying to his mother’s house for a party. Mark’s […]
Declaration of War Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Welcome to indie film hell, where childhood cancer is stylized in a way that makes it seem twee and inconsequential. It’s fine if a director, known or unknown, wants to make something for the hipster set. Go ahead, pack in all the playful technique, skinny jeans, and Sigur Ros music you want […]
The Island President
The tiny island nation of Maldives is rapidly vanishing thanks to rising sea levels, and its leader—now ex-leader—Mohamed Nasheed is doing everything he can to coerce the world’s superpowers to do something about it. That’s the story behind Jon Shenk’s documentary, The Island President. It’s a David vs. Goliath tale of epic proportions and of […]
Take This Waltz Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) If 2012 turns out a female performance better than Michelle Williams’ in Sarah Polley’s new film, Take This Waltz, it’ll be a pretty stellar year. As if we needed another reminder that Williams is one of her generation’s most luminous—and talented—actresses, she goes and outshines even her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in […]
Snow White and the Huntsman Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Snow White and the Huntsman is a concept in search of a cinematic purpose. Because its creators can’t find it, they attempt to win their audience over with flashy, extravagant special effects. They fail. The film is almost painful to watch. It’s incredibly episodic, and the connective tissue between scenes is flimsier […]
Moonrise Kingdom Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Moonrise Kingdom opens with a shot of an immaculately tidy room in a quaint, old-fashioned home on the New England coast. Suddenly, the camera pans right on the perfectly straight line to another such room, with three similarly—and oddly—dressed boys. They play a symphonic record and sit down in perfect symmetry. It […]
Jeff, Who Lives at Home Review
RATING: (1.5 STARS) Jay and Mark Duplass have built careers upon stories like that in Jeff, Who Lives at Home. Their most mainstream effort to date is based on a slacker, Jeff, who’s wandering aimlessly through life while he waits for some kind of cosmic direction. It’s vintage Duplass and only different from Baghead or […]
Rock of Ages Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) “I wanna rock!” exclaimed Twisted Sister in its famous 1984 song. It’s safe to assume most men and women attending Adam Shankman’s Rock of Ages would feel the same way. Well, hopefully they don’t mind Glee-style bastardizations of their beloved rock anthems because that’s Rock of Ages‘ modus operandi. Its numbers are […]
Safety Not Guaranteed Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) “WANTED: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 322, Oakview, CA 93022 You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before.” In this unlikely—and not remotely serious—classified ad taken out 15 […]
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) This is the true story of seven people, who choose to live in a foreign land, retire together, and have their lives taped to find out what happens when India stops being polite and starts getting real. OK, it’s not a true story, but the rest is accurate. The Best Exotic Marigold […]
Prometheus Review
RATING: (3 STARS) To make a film that seeks answers to questions of mankind’s origin is bold. To shoehorn that film into a maybe-it-is-maybe-it-isn’t Alien prequel is bold to the point of being a little foolhardy. This is, for better or worse, Prometheus, and you certainly won’t see a film quite like it this year […]
Eyes Wide Shut Review
RATING: (4 STARS) If The Shining was Stanley Kubrick‘s experimentation with the horror conventions, his final film, 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut, is his perfection of them. Not since, The Silence of the Lambs (maybe even The Thing or Alien) has pure dread been so eloquently captured on film. And it’s arguably not even a horror […]
The Royal Tenenbaums Review
RATING: (4 STARS) The Royal Tenenbaums is Wes Anderson‘s masterpiece. As much as I admire and enjoy some of the man’s other films, this 2001 gem is unequivocally his most satisfying work to date. It’s easy to simply label it a quirky family dramedy, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Royal Tenenbaums […]
Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story
The story behind Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story begins in the intensely racially segregated South of 1965. An NBC News documentarian named Frank DeFelitta went to Greenwood, Mississippi to gently prod its residents on the subjects of race and racism. He ended up turning a black waiter, Booker Wright, into an “accidental activist,” when he […]
Full Metal Jacket Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) In the immediate aftermath of the Vietnam War, Hollywood produced a series of spectacular anti-war films—The Deer Hunter, Coming Home, Apocalypse Now. Time, it seems, doesn’t heal all wounds as, almost a decade later, Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning Platoon kicked off a second wave of Vietnam pictures. The world’s greatest director, Stanley Kubrick, […]
