Foreign Correspondent Review
RATING: (4 STARS) For a film that frequently goes way over the top, Foreign Correspondent is still an exceptional piece of work. It’s very much what you’d expect from a Hitchcock film (international intrigue, questions of identity, and an ordinary man getting caught up in something much bigger than himself), but it contains some amazing […]
The Bourne Identity Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) It was old-fashioned and a new breed of spy film at the same time, and it ended up being one of the most influential films of the past decade. Doug Liman’s The Bourne Identity is a great action film that feels very cold but still manages to engage on a number of […]
9 Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) 9, not to be confused with Nine, the Rob Marshall musical which also came out in 2009, is another in a long line of post-apocalyptic films from the past few years. Two things separate it from films like Children of Men, The Road, and The Book of Eli. The first is obvious—9 […]
True Lies Review
RATING: (3 STARS) If James Cameron ever got his hands on the 007 franchise, the result would almost certainly look and feel a lot like True Lies. It’s a very solid action film that never takes itself too seriously, but there were some elements that didn’t totally work. Besides being overlong, I thought one of […]
The Town Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The strongest praise I can muster for Ben Affleck’s new film The Town is to say that it’s good. It features good acting. The direction and writing are good, and it has some good action sequences. I can’t really get too excited about it though. I felt like it had all been […]
Munich Review
RATING: (4 STARS) The buzz around the opening of Steven Spielberg’s Munich back in 2005 was deafening. After a shift into more commercial projects (A.I., Catch Me if You Can, Minority Report, The Terminal, War of the Worlds), the director finally transitioned back to the kind of film that won him an Oscar. But many […]
Easy A Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Easy A takes the traditional high school comedy formula and throws it on its head. Instead of a schlubby male virgin trying to get laid, it focuses on a smart, attractive young woman telling everyone she got laid. It’s an interesting premise, but director Will Gluck and screenwriter Bert V. Royal take […]
The Best Years of Our Lives Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Sometimes the hardest thing for a soldier isn’t surviving the war—it’s coming back home when it’s over. This theme has been explored dozens of times (including very recently in The Hurt Locker), but one of the first to do so was William Wyler’s Best Picture-winning The Best Years of Our Lives. The […]
The Damned United Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The Damned United is a delightful little film made for a very specific audience—English soccer fans. The fact that I’m not part of that demographic didn’t prevent me from enjoying it, but it did keep me a little at arm’s length. Director Tom Hooper, writer Peter Morgan, and star Michael Sheen are […]
Get Low Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) In the face of tragedy, people often do strange things. In Get Low, a guilt-ridden man completely shuts himself off from others. He builds himself a prison of isolation in which to punish himself, and nearly 40 years later, he still hasn’t quite come to terms with his mistake. The film, from […]
The Cove
I’ve said before on this blog that I’ve never really been a huge fan of documentaries. To be fair, I don’t watch all that many (maybe three or four per year on average, although a quick survey of 2010’s slate of non-fiction tells me that number will be much higher). I think the reason I […]
Driving Miss Daisy Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Of all the Best Picture winners I’ve seen, I think Driving Miss Daisy might be the one I’m most surprised won the award. There are some among the 82 distinguished films that are so ambitious and different that it’s a marvel they were acknowledged (Midnight Cowboy and No Country for Old Men […]
Me and Orson Welles Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) With the exception of one outstanding performance, Me and Orson Welles is completely disposable. An awkward mix of romantic comedy, theater drama, and coming-of-age story, the film isn’t original and doesn’t say anything particularly interesting. But Christian McKay’s brilliant work as the enormously charming, yet painfully controlling Welles is on par with […]
The American Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) The American is an altogether new breed of spy film—one that almost completely disregards plot and action in favor of character. It’s quite straightforward, which ironically makes it unconventional. It regularly plays with the viewer’s expectations, but in such a way that it will frustrate many. Director Anton Corbijn and his star, […]
TRON Review
RATING: (3 STARS) TRON was hailed as revolutionary back in 1982, and even today, you can’t deny its technical achievements. While the film looks incredibly dated, few movies before it had ever relied so heavily on computer graphics. It’s easy to write the film off now because incredible advancements have been made, but its concept […]
From Russia with Love Review
RATING: (4 STARS) I grew up watching James Bond and separating the quality of the films from the nostalgia I feel watching them is somewhat difficult. Even the worst films in the series hold a special place in my heart, while the best films in the series have some very visible flaws. Still, some entries […]
