How to Train Your Dragon Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) For the most part, I find Dreamworks animation quite underwhelming. Maybe the tendency to compare their films to Pixar’s far-superior efforts clouds my objectivity, but other than the first Shrek and, to a lesser extent, Kung Fu Panda, I can’t even say I enjoy their films. It’s hard to say whether How […]
Exit Through the Gift Shop
My thoughts going into Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop were summed up perfectly by one art patron in the film: “It’s one of those thing I’m not quite sure what I’m in for, but I’m excited about it.†My thoughts after seeing it are all over the place, but I still remain excited about […]
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Review
RATING: (2 STARS) I’m no fan of The Twilight Saga. The films are awkward, forced, poorly written, and feature worse acting than many soap operas. But I’ve seen the first two, so I feel obligated to finish the series out. For better or worse, I will find out how Bella, Edward, and Jacob resolve this […]
Inside Job
Charles Ferguson’s Inside Job is the kind of film that gets under your skin and stays with you. That’s not something I normally get out of documentaries (though 2009’s The Cove certainly stayed with me for quite some time), but this one, a searing expose on the current financial crisis freaked me out. It explains […]
Cairo Time Review
RATING: (3 STARS) I watched Cairo Time and I Am Love back to back, and the two films make for a really interesting study. Their themes are quite similar—woman past her prime finds love at an unexpected time. But they’re executed so differently. While I Am Love goes off a cliff in the final 45 […]
I Am Love Review
RATING: (1.5 STARS) I Am Love is a fascinating example of how a film can try to do many things and fail at pretty much all of them. It’s a film with two very different halves. The first is a well-intentioned, meandering ensemble piece. The second is a comical descent into overblown melodrama. It’s full […]
I’m Still Here Review
RATING: (0 STARS) I don’t even know where to begin reviewing a film as vile and pointless as I’m Still Here, the “documentary†that follows actor Joaquin Phoenix’s “retirement†from acting and the beginning stages of his hip-hop “career.†I could decry it for its whiny star and his Jackass-lite antics. I could bitch about […]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) The decision to release the seventh and final Harry Potter film in two parts gives the filmmakers the chance to give every Potter-phile what they want: a vivid to-the-book adaptation of the saga’s darkest chapter. No longer would these folks (myself included, to a certain degree) leave the theater grumbling over the […]
Fair Game Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Sometimes a film doesn’t need a unique look or style to succeed. Take Fair Game, director Doug Liman’s take on the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson/Scooter Libby saga. His matter-of-fact approach to the material makes this a film I can see being easily written off, but it’s this very same approach that elevates it […]
Morning Glory Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Morning Glory reminded me of eating Oreos. It’s rather hollow—a comfort film, if you will—but settles in a place so easygoing and feel-good that you can’t help but smile. This is a crowd pleaser, plain and simple. But sometimes that works, and director Roger Michell’s film has all the right ingredients. It […]
Farewell Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Few could argue that Farewell treads new territory. Cold War thrillers have been done dozens of times before. But the story in this film, written and directed by Christian Carion, is so expertly crafted that it’s easy to forgive the sense of familiarity we feel throughout. And while the film isn’t airtight, […]
Get Him to the Greek Review
RATING: (1.5 STARS) I’m generally a fan of anything that comes out of the Judd Apatow school of comedy. The 40-Year-Old Virgin was one of the best and most refreshing comedies of the last decade, and Knocked Up, Superbad, and even Funny People are worthy successors. I thought Forgetting Sarah Marshall was pretty weak, however. […]
Winter’s Bone Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) Winter’s Bone is a funny little film that fails more than it succeeds, but remains intriguing throughout. I felt that, despite featuring a brilliant performance by newcomer Jennifer Lawrence, it sort of sputtered along without much of a plot for too long for me to really connect to it. The setting is […]
Conviction Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Conviction isn’t a film that’s meant to surprise or challenge you. From the minute the film starts, there’s no doubt how it will conclude. But storytelling this good shouldn’t be written off simply for being predictable and familiar. Like Secretariat and, to a lesser degree, The Blind Side, this film takes advantage […]
Catfish
How does one go about writing a review for the movie you aren’t supposed to know anything about going in? I’ll admit to being a little perplexed about this. I want you to read what I have to say, but I also want you to enjoy Catfish as much as I did. So consider this […]
Waiting for “Superman”
Waiting for “Superman” is a heartbreaking and infuriating look at our nation’s educational system. Any idiot could tell you that American students aren’t getting the best, but I for one had no idea how dysfunctional things in our schools are. Director Davis Guggenheim takes no prisoners when it comes to assigning blame, but what elevates […]
